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Honeymoon Over For 'Millionaire'

Rockwell Appears On Dateline NBC

ENCINITAS, Calif., Updated 10:30 a.m. EST February 22, 2000 -- The honeymoon is over for Rick Rockwell of "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire."

Courtesy FoxFox has already canceled Tuesday's scheduled rebroadcast of last week's hit show after learning abuse allegations against the bridegroom.

A restraining order was issued in 1991 against Rick Rockwell because an ex-girlfriend accused him of hitting and threatening to kill her.

Rockwell appeared in an exclusive sit-down interview about the latest allegations with "Dateline NBC."

He repeated his denials that he ever slapped or abused Debbie Goyne, his former fiance. He did admit to threatening to kill Goyne in a heated moment by posing a hypothetical question.

"Have you ever gotten to the point where someone's pushed your buttons, and you said 'I'll Kill You!'," Rockwell said. "That's what that was."

Rockwell also admitted that he did have a temper. "I'm not perfect," he said. "I'm not a bad guy either."

The interview airs Tuesday night.

With circulating criticism, Fox has now scrapped future programs. "This is the end for this show. We are not doing another one," Mike Darnell, a Fox executive who devised the marry-a-millionaire concept, said in Tuesday's New York Times.

The MillionaireRockwell, who returned to his house alone after his Caribbean honeymoon, angrily denied the abuse allegations.

"At no time have I ever struck any of my girlfriends, ever, for any reason," Rockwell, 42, told KGTV on Sunday night outside his home in Encinitas, a coastal city 25 miles north of San Diego.

"You know, relationships have ups and downs, but getting physical for me is not an option," he said.

Rockwell emerged again Monday evening with a considerably brighter demeanor, laughing with reporters as he passed out 10 large cheese and pepperoni pizzas.

"I would love to talk about all this stuff but I'm so busy. I have to feed all of you," a jovial Rockwell said.

He declined to say where his wife, Darva Conger, 34, was or what their situation was.

"She's doing great. We talked a couple of minutes ago," he said.

Asked about the future of their marriage, he replied, "I don't know what's going to happen about that, but I think she's a great person."

Conger could not be reached Monday. The Associated Press reports that a phone message left at her home was not returned and a receptionist at the hospital where she worked as an emergency room nurse said that she was no longer employed there.

More than 22 million people tuned in to "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire?" on Feb. 15. Fifty women competed as if they were in a combination of "The Dating Game" and a beauty pageant, parading in bathing suits and wedding gowns and answering questions about their tastes. Previous Stories:

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