The third season of Love Island Australia came to an end last night, with the audience voting Mitch Hibberd and Tina Provis as their favourite couple, awarding them the winning title and $50,000 in prize money.
They beat out Queensland-based Chris Graudins and Zoe Clish, as well as Jess Velkovski and Aaron Waters, who respectively live in Sydney and Perth.
“I think regardless of winning or not winning, we all walked away with what we came for,” Tina told WHO of the win this morning.
“I think for both of us it meant so much because we really believed in it [the relationship], and it’s just nice to see that other people did too,” she added.
Today, the still-new couple remain as loved up as they were across the weeks of filming, marveling at their relationship and how it’ll only continue to grow outside the Byron Bay villa where they met.
While a lot of reality TV show relationships can be touch-and-go, Tina and Mitch seemed very grounded, and realistic about the challenges ahead, despite the adrenaline that comes with such a huge and public win.
“It’s just been such an incredible ride and journey … we’ve just had the best time, and it’s kind of just the cherry on top,” Tina commented.
“I think you are in such a pressure-cooker being around everyone 24/7, emotions are so high, it’s hard because it’s stressful but at the same time it’s the perfect situation for like those feelings to grow,” she reflected.
“I think for us, we do need to get back to basics and start living I guess normal life again,” Mitch added.
And now, the still-new couple are enjoying doing just that., despite the uneventful nature of it.
“We went for a walk and got coffee and had breakfast this morning, which sounds so ‘everyday life’, but we haven’t done any of that,” Tina shared.
“I’m excited to just do life things, meet each other’s friends and family, that’s what I’m looking forward to.”
Mitch also pointed out that their final date on the show set the bar quite high going forward.
“Our last date was a helicopter ride around Byron Bay. We’ve had a coffee this morning, so things are going down pretty quickly,” he laughed.
The relationship is a first for Mitch, who has never had a girlfriend before.
“I’m apprehensive with Tina, because she’s a bit needy,” he joked, while she laughed alongside him.
“I’m actually like a stage-10 clinger right now,” she added.
“It’s definitely a new experience for me, and I’m just running with it,” he said.
“I’m not overthinking it or anything like that, I’m just being myself and being the person I guess I was in the villa, and I think that’s a good partner anyway.
“I guess you’ve got to think of someone else when you make decisions and those kinds of things, but I think we’re going pretty well at the moment.”
Although they’re wrapped up in the throes of new love, the pair do have challenges ahead. Tina is based in Sydney, while Mitch is based in Melbourne, and his family in Tasmania.
“We feel, for the right person, you would move anywhere, and we’re both not really tied down to any state,” Mitch explained.
“Obviously for the next couple of months we’re going to have a fair bit going on, where we’re traveling all around … but once we’ve settled back into life, we’ll worry about it then.
“At the end of the day, we’re very happy at the moment,” he confirmed.
The pair also left $50,000 richer, and with the prize money in their pocket, going back and forth between cities a bit less complicated.
“We honestly completely forgot about that, so we literally woke up this morning and we were like ‘oh, that might make traveling around a bit easier and whatnot,” Mitch said.
“Other than that, hopefully Tina buys me a good Christmas present!” he joked.
With a lot of Australia swept up in their love story, we were also curious to know what the pair really love about each other, away from the cameras and the glamour of TV.
“I know for us, we definitely forgot the cameras were there – I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” Tina laughed.
“My favourite thing about Mitch is his personality, and it’s the way he thinks about things, because he is very similar [to me] in a lot of ways, and I feel like we understand things the same way, we get each other,” she effused.
“I love the cute little freckles on her face,” Mitch began.
“I think whoever goes first always copies [the other’s] answer, but I think it’s literally the way she sees the world is pretty similar to me.
“Obviously, she’s a very attractive girl, but yeah, I think the number one thing is just how down to earth she is, and she doesn’t take herself too serious at all,” he explained.
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