Trevor Shively, 26, poses for a photo in his home on Tippecanoe Lake, Leesburg. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.
Trevor Shively, 26, poses for a photo in his home on Tippecanoe Lake, Leesburg. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.
LEESBURG - When "Millionaire Matchmaker" airs on the Bravo network at 10 p.m. Tuesday, local audiences may see a familiar face.

Trevor Shively, 26, is the single "rich" guy professional matchmaker Patti Stanger tries to find a match for on Tuesday's episode. Shively owns a home on Tippecanoe Lake in Leesburg.

On "Millionaire Matchmaker," Stanger takes wealthy single individuals and searches the country for their perfect match, Shively said in an interview in his home Thursday night. Her search for Shively's match began before any footage was filmed.

Shively said he had to tell her exactly what kind of woman he wanted in September. He had to do an Internet television interview, and the show producers did a background check on Shively. He then had further discussions with the producer.

In November, Shively flew to Los Angeles to film the segment. He stayed for a week, and filming took place every day.

By the time Shively had arrived in California, Stanger already found his 10 matches. He said he only got to spend a little time with each one, and nothing "intense" occurred.

Shively then had to narrow it down to two women. He had a mini date - a long talk - with both of them. Finally, he picked one of the two women for a more extravagant date.

Since Shively is a farmer, the show sent him and his date to the 1-800-FLOWERS farm.

"The date went really well," Shively said. "She was pretty much what I was looking for - a conservative Christian woman."

Unfortunately, since that date, Shively hasn't seen her. She lives in California.

"That obviously complicates things. That was the main reason actually. I'm glad I went through with it. It was fun," Shively said.

Being young, good looking and wealthy, why would Shively try to find "the one" on a reality show?

He responded, "One of my reasons was because I thought it would be fun. A way to take myself out of my comfort zone. It was my first time out to L.A. I thought it would be enjoyable. It also gave me a platform to share my faith as a Christian. I just thought it would be fun. Bravo is one of the most liberal television networks out there."

Before "Millionaire Matchmaker," Shively and his roommates tried to get a reality show at Shively's house in the summer. It would have been a reality show about a bunch of "goofy guys," he said, and nothing serious.

But then Bravo started calling and asking Shively to be on "Millionaire Matchmaker".

During Shively's segment, he experiences sushi for the first time.

"I'm a pretty simple dude to tell you the truth," he said. Since the show was paying for the sushi and he was starving at that point, he said, those were other reasons to try it.

"I am conservative and I knew out there would be very liberal. It gave me the chance to be around people who don't look at things the way I do," Shively said of his California experience.

Shively said he doesn't have a million dollars in cash or anything. To get on the show, the producers looked at the assessed value of his Tippecanoe Lake home and how much he owed on it. Until last July, he lived with his parents in Whitley County.

Shively is a 2002 Columbia City High School graduate. He grows corn and soybeans in the Columbia City area.

His aunt lives right next door to his house on Tippecanoe Lake. Shively said he's been coming to the lake for years and years. When the house next door became available on the market at a good price, he decided to buy it. He also had sold some real estate/agriculture land in Illinois. Hopefully, he said, his Tippecanoe Lake home is an investment for him.

Shively is still looking for that perfect woman to share his home with.

"I'm still single," he said. "Put that down there."
Asked what he is looking for in a woman, he said, "Someone that shares the same values and beliefs as me. Someone who enjoys helping other people."

For the past four years, Shively has been the middle school Sunday school teacher at First Church of God in Columbia City.

"Looks are very important, absolutely. Not the most important thing, but I think any guy looks at a girl and wants to be attracted to them," he said.

Eventually, he said, he'd like to have two to three children.

He isn't the only son of Terry and Jill Shively. He has two younger brothers - both also available. Trent, 24, is an accountant at Kline CPA. Tyler, 21, plays basketball at Huntington University.

Anyone interested in contacting Shively can find him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/people/Trevor-Shively/153800235?ref=search