Janette Bendle was convinced she was going to be the woman at the end of The Golden Bachelor Australia, but was blindsided instead.
After keeping her guard up throughout the series, she finally told the engineer that she was falling for him, and he shared the same.
Speaking exclusively with our sister publication, New Idea, she said she was sure it was her.
“I was sure it was me,” she said. “I didn’t have a doubt. I had no speech formed in my head for if it wasn’t me. I only had what I wanted to say if it was me. That’s how confident I was.”
While she was calm walking up to him in South Africa, she knew from the moment she saw his face.
“I saw sadness. And in that split second, I thought, ‘oh,’” she shared, and added that she felt like he made a bit of a “fool” out of her.
Taking to Substack to reflect on her experience on the show, she said she felt confident that morning, but then the “fairytale ripped away”.
“I wanted to run,” she wrote. “To tear off the dress. Take down my hair. Throw the shoes. Disappear from the mountain. But there were cameras, interviews, people. No space to crumble.”
While she had hindsight and saw Sunny’s connection with Bear unfold on the show, it still felt raw.
Despite this, she told New Idea that she wanted answers.
“I would like to hear from the horse’s mouth and look into his eyes – because you can always see whether it’s the truth,” she said.
“I would like to ask why he didn’t choose me. Not that it matters in any way, but something about it didn’t feel right.”
She also told New Idea that she has not spoken to Bear since the finale was filmed in April, apart from a civil ‘hello’ at the show’s premiere in October.
The pilates instructor also shared that she texted Sunny afterwards to wish her the best of luck.
“I messaged her when we came back home to say I think that’s beautiful, well deserved, and I hope you’re very happy,” she revealed. “I tried to keep a friendship going.”
Elaborating on it more to 9 Entertainment, she said she messaged because she was “genuinely happy for her”.
