Darva Conger — From Nurse to Reality TV’s Instant Spotlight

A life pivoted by a shocking TV moment

On September 21, 1965, Darva Conger was born in Carbondale, Illinois. Prior to her brush with fame, she followed a path grounded in service. She studied nursing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (and its Carbondale campus), graduating magna cum laude.

Conger also served a decade in the United States Air Force — on active duty and in the reserves — stationed in various locations including Utah, near St. Louis, and Korea. She specialized in medical services and rose to the rank of staff sergeant. 

Her background — educated, disciplined, medically trained — stood in stark contrast to what would thrust her into the public eye: a controversial reality-TV gamble.

A televised “wedding” and a public uproar

In 2000, Conger took part in the special program Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? — a widely watched, one-off reality show in which 50 women vied to marry an unseen “millionaire.” On February 15, 2000, Conger, then working as an emergency-room nurse, was chosen by the bachelor (on silhouette only) and married him on the spot, in front of a live studio audience and millions of viewers. 

The televised wedding was sensational — and soon after, deeply regretted. Within weeks, Conger discovered troubling truths about her “husband,” including a previously issued restraining order against him. She described feeling shocked, mistreated, and misled — and requested an annulment almost immediately.

When the annulment was finalized in April 2000, Conger confronted a new reality: she was vilified in tabloids as a “gold digger,” and lost her nursing job in the ensuing media chaos.

Rebuilding: From Tabloid Headlines to Private Life

Determined to reclaim some agency, Conger posed for Playboy magazine in August 2000 — a decision she later reflected on as an attempt to control the narrative on her own terms.

She also tried her hand at entertainment, including a 2002 appearance on Celebrity Boxing, where she faced off against former gymnast Olga Korbut — and walked away with a unanimous-decision win.

Yet over time, Conger stepped away from the glare of media. By the mid-2000s she had remade herself not as a reality-TV footnote but as a medical professional again. She married physician assistant Jim Arellano in 2003; the couple had a son named Cassius. The marriage ended in divorce in 2009.

Today — as she told interviewers marking 25 years since the original show’s airing — Conger lives a quieter life, working as a nurse anesthetist and raising her son outside of the spotlight. She has expressed that she views the sensational chapter of her life as a “dark time,” but one that taught her resilience and the value of privacy. 

Financial Snapshot: What Her Net Worth Suggests

According to the widely cited estimation by Celebrity Net Worth, Darva Conger has a net worth of approximately US$500,000.

That figure reflects both the fleeting windfall from her reality-TV fame and her eventual return to medical work — a far cry from the glamour and fortunes often associated with television notoriety, but perhaps a more grounded and stable foundation.

The Legacy of a Reality-TV Cautionary Tale

Darva Conger’s story resonates today not as one of glitz and glamour — but as a cautionary tale about the perils of reality television. Her brief, sensational rise and precipitous fall typified the early-2000s appetite for shock value at the expense of ethics, dignity, and adequate background vetting.

In interviews, she has portrayed herself not as a villain, but as a survivor: someone who walked into an absurd situation, endured public scorn, and then quietly chose to rebuild. 

Her life underscores the human cost behind “instant fame,” and remains relevant as discussions about consent, exploitation, and mental health within reality TV continue to evolve.