They’ve been officially dating for months, but it seems Bachelor Locky Gilbert (along with the rest of Australia), has only just learned how to properly pronounce his girlfriend Irena Sbrbinovska’s name.
WATCH: Locky Gilbert reveals the real way to say Irena’s name
The 31-year-old nurse’s beautiful moniker is a nod to her Macedonian heritage and is technically pronounced “ey-renna” with a rolled “r” sound, not “eye-ree-nah”.
Throughout The Bachelor season, it seems Locky and the other contestants frequently used Irena’s name incorrectly, instead using the phonetic pronunciation.
But on the weekend, as Locky and Irena ventured out on an active camping date in rural New South Wales, the 30-year-old adventure tour guide revealed he has switched to pronouncing his girlfriend’s name the traditional way.
The couple returned to the same location where they had their romantic final date on the show, in the Hunter Valley region of NSW.
“We are back at out are Wollombi House where me and Irena had out last final date at the hot tub in those trees and the 4WD out there … it’s so good to be back out here,” Locky told fans in an Instagram story video.
The couple also went on a hike in a local forest, again putting to bed those rumours that the stunning brunette isn’t really a fan of hiking.
Eagle-eyed fans immediately noticed Locky’s change in pronunciation in his video, which you can watch in the player above, and took to his Instagram page to call him out on the switch.
“What is it that you call her or have we all been pronouncing her name wrong?” one fan commented, to which another person replied, “I thought that too. I think all of us including Locky (during the show) were pronouncing it wrong!”
A third fan clarified: “Us wogs pronounce Irena as ‘irena’ with the ‘i’ pronounced as we learned it in primary school. And if you say it really properly you roll your r’s too 😉.”
Locky admitted his slight faux pas, replying in the thread: “I’m still learning 😂😂”
This isn’t the first time the pronunciation of Irena’s name has come up.
Last month, a source told Daily Mail Australia that Irena always introduces herself with the less traditional “eye-reen-ah” pronunciation, because the correct way is often too difficult for most people to pronounce.
“Not many people call her “Ee-renna” really, because she doesn’t choose to go by it and doesn’t like to have to correct people,” the source told the publication.
According to the source, Irena did tell Locky and her fellow Bachie contestants the correct pronunciation of her name in the mansion, but for “consistency” they stuck to using “eye-reen-nah” onscreen.
Locky and Irena have been enjoying lots of active weekend activities together since the finale episode aired last month and they were able to go public with their romance.
Despite constantly fending off rumours that they have split, the pair say they are very much together and still in love.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
