But the reality was quite different, Tara explaining: “On our first date, it was already very clear that there wasn't going to be a kiss for us. We knew that we weren't there yet.
“The first date was going to be more of a getting to know you… but there definitely was a lot of romantic tension between us and a lot of gazing into each other's eyes.”
She also addressed an editing blunder later in the season, when they were shown having their first kiss on their second date – despite promos showing them locking lips in an earlier challenge.
“But by the time the knight challenge rolled around… we were ready for that moment,” she says of their actual first kiss during the medieval challenge.
Tara also debunked rumours that the crowd chanting for them to kiss at the challenge was added in post-production, confirming it really did happen.
While she and Michael were clear that the love story we saw on TV had been edited, they insisted the romantic moments were totally genuine.
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“They weren’t showing moments that didn’t exist,” Tara says.
“But there was more to it than what was able to be shown in the timeframe that they had. It was a simplified version.”
Tara also surprised us all by revealing Michael is her first ever boyfriend, though the geek has a bit more relationship experience under his belt.
Though he’d been single for almost two years before meeting Tara on BATG, prior to that he’d been in a four-year relationship and had been with other girlfriends before.
“I've been in a relationship before, I’ve learned everything you need to know about being tender and learning how to make a long-term relationship work,” he adds.
“When I learned that Tara had never been in a proper long-term relationship I was like, ‘I am extremely honoured to be your first and I promise I will make it all worth your while’.”
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