“I knew coming into this experience that there might be a possibility of the guys and girls having an attraction,” a devastated Brooke Blurton said in last night’s episode of The Bachelorette Australia.
The comment came after Brooke was alerted to a potential spark between contestants Jamie-Lee Dayz and Ryan Carmichael. But was everything really as it seemed?
The old saying goes ‘where there’s smoke, there’s fire’ – though, Ryan is firmly denying that anything happened between the pair.
The rumour was brought forward by Kurt Herzog, during a group date that involved the contestants speaking to “human lie detector” Steve Van Aperen. Kurt said there were concerns in the house that Ryan appeared to be interested in Jamie-Lee, but that he believed she was not aware of the situation.
Ryan was eliminated after the dramatic cocktail party but, he says, his relationship with Jamie-Lee was platonic.
“It was strictly a platonic friendship, that’s all it was,” he tells WHO. “I was closer to [Jamie-Lee] than the other girls, I got along well with her – I think you just naturally get along better with some people than with others. But I think it was just misread by other people.”
Ryan admits it was “weird” watching the story play out last night, and still isn’t sure how the rumour really started.
“I’m not too sure what was happening behind our backs. I don’t know where it came from, maybe they saw that we were close?” he says. “But on-screen you can see there was nothing to it.”
Jamie-Lee was, of course, deeply upset by the rumours and told Brooke that she was “just friends” with Ryan in the episode.
“If you think that anyone in there, in my eyes, compares to you, then that is so wrong. I am here for you Brooke,” Jamie-Lee said. “I wouldn’t have stopped my life… I’m not some stupid girl that’s going to go for anyone. I am here for you.”
While the rumour certainly rattled Ryan, he says he’s still glad to have been on the groundbreaking series – even though he has no interest, currently, in ever doing a reality TV show again.
“Last night was really weird, it’s weird watching yourself on TV when you’ve never done that before,” he says. “I’m happy I did it. It’s like nothing I’ve ever done before – it’s pretty wild – but at this point probably not [interested].”
Outside of last night’s drama, Ryan flew under the radar for most of his time on the show. He says he shared a “wholesome” connection with Brooke, but ultimately “didn’t get to explore it.”
So, who does he believe to be the frontrunner in the race for Brooke’s heart? Darvid Garayeli.
“From day one I could just see the vibe between Brooke and Darvid,” Ryan says. “They were just drawn to each other, it was magnetic.
“They were so comfortable together in a group setting and everyone else was so nervous, in the weird situation – like you’re in a group going for the one person, but you’re also getting close with those other people – and he sort of just didn’t really care about anyone else and was going for her.”
The Bachelorette Australia airs Wednesday and Thursday, 7:30pm, on 10.
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