Former ‘Bachelor’ Contestant Charged with DUI in Tampa

Maribel “Mary” Delgado, a two-time contestant on the ABC reality show “The Bachelor” and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleader, was charged with driving under the influence in Tampa last week. Delgado was arrested at Kennedy Boulevard and West Shore Boulevard at 12:45 a.m. after having been pulled over for a broken front headlight, according to Hillsborough County authorities. She refused a blood alcohol test and was charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence.

She told police she’d consumed “one and a half glasses of wine.” According to the arrest report, the arresting officer noticed a “distinct odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the vehicle” and noted that Delgado had “bloodshot, watery and glassy” eyes. Delgado first told the officer she hadn’t had anything to drink, shortly changing her story to “one glass of wine” before later admitting she had one and a half glasses prior to her arrest.

When asked to perform a standard field sobriety test, the report says Delgado also “swayed from side to side, failed to touch her finger to her nose” and “couldn’t walk heel to toe in a straight line.”

Delgado was a contestant on “The Bachelor” in 2003 and 2004. She “won” the show the second time around and became engaged to “The Bachelor”, professional fisherman Byron Velvick.  In 2007, she was accused in Seminole of punching Velvick during a disagreement. She was arrested again in 2008 in Texas for public intoxication, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

Delgado and Velvick broke up in late 2009.

If convicted, Delgado faces a fine of up to $1,000, probation of up to a year and/or imprisonment for up to six months. Any probation granted will require an alcohol evaluation – and, based upon the history recited above, it seems likely that a judge would require her to complete some sort of alcohol rehabilitation program as a condition of probation.