The nation wakes in shock this morning, as Nick ‘The Honey Badger’ Cummins cruels lovelorn hearts everywhere and rejects both Brittany and Sophie in last night’s The Bachelor finale.
And, in doing so, throwing the typical dating TV show narrative of “happy couple/spurned woman” into just three sad singles.
After learning she’d been rejected by Cummins last night, Brittany Hockley declared: “What a giant waste of time that was.”
Yet, from the point of view of a masterful piece of television, this year’s series has been a huge success for Ten. The show has practically PR-ed itself, ratings are up (some episodes even conquering the all-conquering The Block), while such was Cummins’ appeal, Ten are reporting male viewership at record highs.
Today’s Daily Telegraph going so far as to call this year’s series “the most entertaining yet”. Its entertainment reporter, Lexie Cartwright, writing: “From the get go, it copped a fair bit of flack. Australian Bachelor tragics were not happy with the choice of Nick ‘Honey Badger’ Cummins as the cult reality show’s leading man.
“He’s a bogan, a famous rugby star…But my God, he has played the centrepiece of a truly exciting series. And let’s be honest, that’s what this show is about,” Cartwright enthused.
And Ten’s not done with Cummins just yet. The former Wallaby is set to be grilled by Lisa Wilkinson on this Sunday’s episode of The Sunday Project in what the network is promoting as his “only interview”.
A trailer for the upcoming interview has Wilkinson probing Cummins why he’d gone on the show in the first place if he had no intention of partnering with any of the bachelorettes.
“But you do understand on The Bachelor you’re meant to be at a place where you’re ready to have a relationship?” Wilkinson asks, to which Cummins looks embarrassed and red faced. It also does little to assuage Cummins’ detractors that he only went on the show to lift his public profile and his endorsement opportunities.
And perhaps he has been stringing everyone a long the whole time. The Daily Mail has dredged up an interview Cummins previously did with the men’s magazine Men’s Health which arguably show his intentions weren’t ever that true.
When asked what his ideal woman would be, the 30-year-old Cummins said: “It wouldn’t be one of the ones on the show, that’s for sure,” he told the magazine.
“I mean… it… it wouldn’t be anyone that I’ve already met… If it was me on the first episode last night, it wouldn’t have been one of them.”
He then added of his dating experiences: “Ah, I’ve done my dash. Nah, mate, I need to spend a good few years out of the [dating] game.”
And as he told Brittany in last night’s shattering finale: “When I say those three words, I want to really mean it… I’m not looking for a girlfriend, I’m looking for a life partner.
“Right now, I can’t give 100 per cent of myself to you. My head is very cloudy. Right now, I’m a bit lost. Because of that I have to say this time has come to an end.”
“So that’s it?” Brittany asks.
“Unfortunately it is,” he says. “Thank you. Thank you for sharing.”
Brittany later adding: “Do you know what, it’s Nick’s loss.”
The Bachelorette starts on Ten next Wednesday.
