David Sentner was careful he didn't disgrace his family with bad behavior or sleazy pick-up lines on "For Love or Money 4," the NBC-TV reality show that concluded last month.

After all, his grandmother was watching.

His mother, Mary Jo , reminded Sentner of that fact before he left for the show's taping in the spring.

He wasn't a winner, but he must have done something right. The Sentner family was thrilled with the show, even Grandma.

"My family loves it. My mom loves reality TV, so she's ecstatic," said Sentner, 28, a bachelor who lives near Miami but grew up in Peters. His parents still live there; his father, Fred, is a lawyer in Canonsburg.

"For Love or Money 4" started with two women and 15 men vying for romance or a chance at a payday worth as much as $1 million. The men cast votes to decide which woman would stay; the losing woman and the bachelors who voted for her had to leave the show.

Sentner cast the deciding vote, breaking a 7-7 tie and keeping Rachel Veltri, a flight attendant from Chicago, on the show. Veltri went on dates with her eight suitors and winnowed the group through several rounds of cuts.

The final man had the choice of cashing a check -- at the beginning of the show, some men received checks worth $1 million; other checks, including Sentner's, were worth $1 -- or pursuing a relationship.

If he chose love, the woman would have the same option, choosing love or dismissing the bachelor and cashing her own $1 million check.

Sentner made it to the final three, in part because his vote kept Veltri on the show.

"Most people thought that was fixed, but it wasn't," he said, referring to the drama of the 7-7 tie before he cast his tally. "I figured it would help me, because [Veltri] would know I was the deciding vote."

Veltri, 26, seemed enamored of David S., as viewers came to know him. In the show's finale, Veltri, who "tried kissing me all the time," according to Sentner, spent a day romancing and cuddling with him, but sent him packing after saying she didn't feel any chemistry.

Her final choice, Caleb, chose love over money. Veltri did likewise, missing out on $1 million for a chance at romance.

When the show's on-air run ended, Sentner said he didn't have the same affection for Veltri he had had at the beginning of taping.

"I thought she was attractive ... not breathtaking or anything, but attractive," he said. "I thought she was a sweet and innocent girl."

After a pause, Sentner changed his mind.

"OK, maybe not innocent, but she was sweet."

"For Love or Money 4" was the second reality TV show for Sentner. The former star wrestler at Peters Township High School and West Virginia University also appeared on the Travel Channel's dating show "Get Packing" in February in the midst of interviewing for the NBC program.

In the episode, two women perused Sentner's house for 10 minutes. They used the information to buy gifts they thought he'd like to pack for a tropical vacation to the Dominican Republic. Sentner chose a winner based on which woman best captured his personality through the gifts.

Mary Jo Sentner conceded it was unusual to watch her son -- not once, but twice -- on television.

"This is a shocker for me," his mom said of her son's national exposure. "I thought, 'I can't believe I'm watching him.' "

His three siblings -- Christina, 39; Eric, 30; and Stephen, 26, -- also enjoyed seeing their brother on television. Stephen, of Bridgeville, gets his share of ribbing at work about his older brother's televised romantic escapades, Mary Jo Sentner said.

With the shows over, Sentner is focusing on his job as an account executive with Home Healthcare. He doesn't want his business degree from West Virginia University to go unused because of a few television appearances.

"I'm not banking on it. I'm just enjoying my 15 minutes of fame," he said.

Considering he had no television aspirations, getting two chances for fame is all the more surprising.

"I was lying by a pool [in Florida] when a girl approached me and asked if I wanted to audition" for the NBC show, he said. Soon after, he attended an open casting call, but accidentally came a day late. The producers liked him enough, though, and he submitted a 10-minute audition tape. When they asked him to be on the show, Sentner could hardly believe his luck.

"I'm about the only guy I know who's been on two different reality shows. They want fresh faces, usually," he said.

His face certainly didn't hurt his chances. On the "For Love or Money" Internet message board, women frequently filled the page with praise about his eyes and smile or mentions of their schoolgirl crushes on the self-described "silly one" of the show.

All the attention doesn't seem to help Sentner in the psychology department, though. He's experienced two dating shows and a five-year relationship, but still hasn't deciphered the female psyche.

"I don't think I'll ever understand women," he admitted. "I don't think women are understandable."

Even if he doesn't understand women, fans of the show thought he had good intentions with his down-to-earth, honest nature. On the official "For Love or Money" Web site, almost 85 percent of viewers who voted thought David was motivated by his heart, not his wallet.

For most of the show, his $1 check didn't give much of an option.

He did exchange the first check for a "mystery check" of an unknown value after making it to the final three, but when Veltri kicked him off the show, his payday also went with it. He had to throw his "mystery check," which he later found to be worth $1 million, into a fireplace.

"That was the hardest thing I ever had to do," he said.

At least he still made Grandma proud.