The Bachelor Locky Gilbert has denied claims he already knew frontrunner Bella Valeris before she officially entered the mansion this season.
And he’s hit back at suggestions the pair arranged a secret pact before filming, to ensure she would be picked as the winner during the show’s finale.
WATCH: Relive Bella and Locky’s first meeting on The Bachelor
Eliminated Bachie contestant Nadine Kodsi told the So Dramatic podcast that Locky and Bella knew each other before the show – and claimed they were set up by fellow Bachie stars Matty Johnson and his fiancée Laura Byrne, who are good mates with both Locky and Bella.
But Locky this week strenuously denied the claims.
“I had never met Bella prior to her arrival on The Bachelor red carpet,” Locky told Daily Mail Australia in a statement on Thursday.
He also rejected suggestions he and Bella were “set up” by Matty J and Laura.
“Individually, Bella and I know Matty J and Laura, however claims that we were introduced by them, or that we had made any kind of secret pact are completely false,” he explained.
Bella herself also shut down claims made by Nadine that she first met Locky during a previous trip to Bali, where the adventure guide’s business is based.
“I haven’t been to Bali in five years and it genuinely baffles me the lengths people will go to,” Bella told The Herald Sun.
“I’ve never even watched Survivor,” she added.
“I didn’t even have a conversation with Nadine. I don’t listen to it [her claims] because 99 per cent of it would be complete bulls–t.’
Bella, 25, is currently the frontrunner tipped to win Locky’s heart, alongside loveable nurse Irena Srbinovska, 31.
The Bachelor continues on Wednesday and Thursday nights at 7.30pm.
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