America's no. 1 single man is getting hitched: it hardly seems possible, but actor George Clooney is to wed.

• Author: Barkley, D.H.
• Position: Entertainment

RUMORS ABOUND about what has gone on within actor George Clooney's past romantic relationships, and about how they ended and who drove the split. As with all couples, it is hard to judge what really happens on the inside. What we do know for sure is that past romances with him have not lasted. For Amal Alamuddin, 36, who he is to marry this month, time will tell.

Explains the once-divorced, 53-year-old Clooney, "Women expect to go out with George Clooney and then find out that I'm not George Clooney. I'm an ordinary guy. I can't put an act on all the time." According to author Erica Jong "Fame means millions of people have the wrong idea of who you are" and, to playwright and novelist Somerset Maugham, "It is dangerous to let the public behind the scenes. They are easily disillusioned and then they are angry with you, for it was the illusion they loved."

What might it have been like in reality for the women who dated Clooney since he struck stardom? First, might they have found he is much more wedded to his work than they thought? Perhaps the amount of time he had for them was considerably less than his public persona portrays. Based on his charming image and apparently glitzy good-time lifestyle, they might forget that this man does more than a full-time job--that he is where he is today through a lot of sheer hard work and determination. He is a self-confessed workaholic, with no sign of letting up.

So, when these ladies waited at home for the charming man to return and whisk them off their feet--if he was not traveling around the world honoring his multitude of commitments--he was likely to need down time and may not have wanted to wine, dine, and romance as they expected.

Not only does Clooney work extremely hard, he is totally passionate about what he does. The intensity of his love for his work may not be that easy to understand--although the women past may have had their own careers, getting much satisfaction and enjoyment from what they do, his passion for work seems more like a frill-blown love affair--all consuming and somewhat exclusive. Although they may have been Clooney's girlfriend, they may have found it difficult to get used to being an outsider to his true love affair--work, a passion he also shares with a tightknit group of friends and colleagues.

When they were hoping to have a good chat with him alone over a quiet lunch at home, he may have been on the phone to one or more of the boys or someone else involved in one of his many projects, discussing the latest plans for his first love, while they perhaps flicked idly through their phone hoping that he soon would give the warm body he was supposed to be dating some of his attention.

He has been accused of having a rather hot and cold style with girlfriends. This may not be too surprising for a man as focused as Clooney. When a woman is the focus of his attention--one can believe that he is the "absolute charmer" described by former girlfriend Kimberly Russell--she probably feels like the luckiest woman in the world, with a man who "flatters women to the point of embarrassment and beyond." However, it is said that men tend to be focused on just one thing at a time, so how does it feel when Clooney turns his focus over to top love--work?

Also, might the women in Clooney's life have found that he is much more serious than they thought...