I just happened to stumble upon an article about Hank. Here is an excerpt.
Stepleton, 25, was an options trader in Chicago before the “CUPID” cast found him working out at the gym and gave him a pass to be on the show, Whitehouse said. The other bachelors auditioned.
For complete article Click Here

• RE: About Hank,HappyDayz, 04:09 AM, 08-27-03
• RE: About Hank,Cupidcruiser, 03:07 PM, 08-27-03

Hmmmm...don't care where they found him, he's still da bomb! I noticed some discrepancies in little details in that article (things about Hank's family that he has talked about, and the article writer was off about), makes me wonder what else the writer may have misconstrued, so I'll take what they say with a grain of salt. I don't think it would really matter anyway, how he got into the second round, because Lisa obviously doesn't care how Hank got there, she's smitten (and she selected him for the top ten).

I know for a fact that several other of the contestants were approached by the producers and given a so-called "pass" just as Hank was. Hank still auditioned--he had thst shark picture he showed the girls--and presumably they still could have turned him down.