Marquel's Post-'Bachelorette' Business Is The BEST

Remember Marquel Martin? You may remember him as the very attractive cookie guy from Andi Dorfman's season of The Bachelorette, or maybe you remember him from his second attempt at finding love on the first season of Bachelor in Paradise. Either way, former Bachelorette/Bachelor in Paradise contestant Marquel Martin has been out of the spotlight since 2014. So, what has Marquel been doing since then? As it turns out, he is super busy with his career, which sounds like it's going pretty darn well. And, he has some romance in the air as well. "It's been a very interesting experience balancing a dating life and work," he says in an interview with Bustle. He also confirms that he's dating, it's just not "Facebook Official" yet so he couldn't share much more.

After two failed reality TV attempts to find love, it's pretty exciting news to hear he's got a special someone. Marquel was sent home in the fifth week of Andi's season, and he never got a one-on-one date, but he charmed the world so much that many people were convinced he was going to become the first black Bachelor. (Unfortunately that wasn't the case, even though I still stand by my opinion that he would have been way better than Chris Soules.) Marquel was instead invited to Bachelor in Paradise where he made pretty good use of his time getting to know different women. He went on dates with Michelle Money, Danielle Ronco, and Jackie Parr before going home single in Week 4.

So, what’s up with Marquel these days?

On top of working a 9-5 marketing job with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), he’s still working getting his business, Social Cookie, up and running. He started the concept a few years ago, right after the show, but he says the business plan changed recently changed.

“My partner and I decided to take it in a different direction and focus on cookie and wine pairings,” he says. “So, for example, a cabernet may pair nicely with a chocolate chip cookie, or red velvet might pair nicely with a merlot. So, we want to create a box set. A boyfriend can buy his girlfriend a bottle of wine and a dozen cookies, and it's all in one set.”

Cookies and wine? Yes please!

However, Marquel explains just how hard it is to get a business up and running, especially when you have a full-time job. Between obtaining a liquor license in Nevada and making sure he's set up all the other licensing costs, the company is still a work in progress. Luckily, Marquel is pretty driven to succeed, and he knows he can use his cookie fame from The Bachelorette to bring in business when the time is right.

I was just traveling for work last week and this nice mom and her two kids were walking down the aisle of the plane and she just stopped and said, "Hey! Aren’t you the cookie guy?" and the entire plane just stopped and looked like, "Who is this dude?" It could be a lot worse. I could be cheeseburger guy or something.

I’ve already let Marquel know that I’m on the wait list for a cookie and wine box set when it's available, because there’s literally nothing better than cookies and wine. Just throw in a Monday night Bachelorette episode and you've got a viewing party fit for Chris Harrison.

Images: ABC; Giphy