Reality show star finds true love and support all over her world.

Because most “dating dames” out there do so with an intent to get married, I’d like to share with you a little story about one of my very best friends, Tina.

I met Tina 10 years ago when she worked for my father at his travel agency. We were brand new to our 20’s, and I used to joke that Tina and I were truly polar opposites. She, blonde and tiny (in height and width) and me, brunette and big (uh, in height and width). Aside from appearances, Tina and I had very different experiences with dating and relationships, what we’re physically attracted to, and the types of men who were attracted to us. Despite these differences, Tina and I have very much kindred spirits and hearts, and Tina was in fact the girl who got me into modeling and acting (as she was already in the field).

At the time, she was in a relationship with a guy I wasn’t all that fond of. He was kind of controlling of her free time, for one thing. (He’s since apologized for things, and they are good friends now.) After that, she’d had a couple failed relationships, just based on the fact that they were so very wrong for her.

Tina then met Matt #1. He was a body-builder, cute, and seemed to love Tina to pieces. A couple years after dating they got married, and things were just really not good. Matt #1’s temper spiraled out of control at times, to the point where he even called me up on the phone screaming at me at one point.

Tina had some health issues where the meds she was on caused her to gain weight. You could tell that their marriage wasn’t doing so well, because Tina had started spending time with me without her husband in tow. Tina’s always been the kind of girl to bring her man everywhere with her, so I knew this was a clue, and eventually he moved out on Thanksgiving Day in 2006.

Tina was then on the reality show The Ex-Wives Club and her whole world was changed. There she had her first date since her divorce, with Matt #2 (the BETTER one). Tina and Matt are now married and run a non-profit drama ministry called Act 4 Him. That’s their wedding picture, which was taken on the island where they had their first date, which was on national television. The ceremony however, was private – just the two of them, deeply in love.

The reason I’m writing this is because despite the joy in Tina’s love life and her personal life, she’s recently undergone some medical problems, one of which being having a tumor removed from her jaw this past Monday. The tumor was found to be benign, thank God, but Tina’s incurred major medical bills as a result of all the problems. This afternoon, the community is coming together to hold a benefit to help. (Times Union)

I’m so proud of her, and she totally deserves this as she’s been through so much and worked so hard to regain her happiness (with the help of her wonderful hubby!), I just thought I’d share…