Earlier this week it was revealed that reality stars Jarrod Woodgate and Keira Maguire had found love on their stint in Bachelor In Paradise and they were living happily together in Melbourne. WHO caught up with the reality TV darling and her vineyard manager beau to see what the future holds for the couple, including a potential series about their life.
WHO: So, it’s been a few days since the end of the show. How has this week been for you both? Are you relieved that it’s all out in the open?
KEIRA: Yes, we are relieved. We’ve been waiting for six months and I think that obviously building up towards the end it was a bit… like we were getting a bit anxious and overwhelmed but now that it’s over we kind of just feel so relieved, I don’t think you can explain it, it’s like a weight… a massive weight has been taken off my shoulders and now we can go to breakfast together! We actually haven’t seen each other all week because Jarrod’s been on the farm so this if officially the first day that we’ve spent together since the show has finished.
JARROD: Well we’re going to go out for some brekkie and then we’re going to do some shopping and then have our first dinner date tonight.
KEIRA: Jarrod’s organised dinner and I’m like so excited, I get to dress up for my boyfriend!
WHO: How was the adjustment coming back from Paradise, considering you living in different states at the time?
JARROD: It was hard… we worked around it; I mean Keira flew down to Melbourne majority of the time…
KEIRA: Like every week.
JARROD: Yeah and then we’d just spend that time on the farm or in Melbourne just hiding so it was very hard.
KEIRA: Yeah we were pretty much like in house arrest, so if you can just imagine two people that have just met… you’re literally just sitting there, all you do is drink wine; watch Stan and Netflix and chill. I know it sounds cliché but that’s exactly what we did and we literally could not leave like some mornings we’re like we just want to go up and go for a walk or go for breakfast and you could not leave the house and there were paps literally sitting outside of our house as well. It was very hard for us, it was very…
JARROD: It’s full on, it’s full on but now that it’s all over we don’t have to worry.
KEIRA: It wasn’t easy though watching the show back as well being on house arrest, it was quite challenging and we did go through lots of ups and downs throughout the show so we weren’t roses the whole time but watching the finale really just allowed us to you know, just go you know what… we did all of this for that and that’s why we’re here together.
WHO: In the downtime that you did have together, did you learn anything new about each other?
KEIRA: Not really, not anything new. I think that in Paradise because we did spend a lot of time together like we did get to know each other really well, we saw a lot of our own personalities in different situations but the only thing that really changed, because we were amazing and then when the show happened it put a lot of pressure on us and it just felt like this angst… we just had this angst about us so it really created a lot of issues in our relationships but nothing to the point where like it was going to break us.
WHO: It must have been tough having to talk to the media about the drama going on in the show when it wasn’t like that in your relationship at the time…
JARROD: They want you to basically do all of these interviews but then you just want to be able to live in the moment but then you’ve got to go back to where you weren’t happy…
KEIRA: And the difficult times so we had to relive all of that, we had to relive everything…
JARROD: And I mean, the other couples that have gone through didn’t have as much drama in their build-up to having a relationship so it was just harder to have to sit there and like Keira said, relive everything again.
KEIRA: Yeah, it was very difficult. Most of the things, like the kissing of Simone, the Daniel situation, like those were… like they were our real feelings and we had to watch those back and it hurt watching it back.
WHO: Keira, we saw on Instagram that you spent last Christmas with Jarrod’s family. How was that?
KEIRA: It was actually really amazing when we came back we… I think it was a week before we saw each other and then pretty much the next week it was Christmas so I actually met his parents the week before Christmas and they were just so beautiful and warming and it just felt right, I think that when you come into the situation it can sometimes be daunting and scary but everything just really fell into place, they’re so beautiful, his mum, his dad… like his mum holds my hand, like she literally holds my hand and I’m like… I’m so not used to it but it’s really interesting hey, how much your mum, your sister and your step-mum are like me…
JARROD: Yeah, well because my sister’s in Singapore so I think they see Keira as their daughter in a way, so they’ve just taken her on board and just accepted yeah Keira into the family and all of my little nieces and nephews have as well so that was fun, she’s already done some makeup on the nieces. No, we’ve had some really good times and yes it’s all been indoors and hiding but now we can enjoy these moments with the family outside in public.
WHO: We spoke with Sam recently and he told us that by Keira saving him in his first rose ceremony, it allowed the stars to align for him to spend time with Tara. Have you guys seen Sam and Tara since filming finished?
KEIRA: We haven’t seen them but they, as you would know, went kind of through the same thing as we did. They didn’t have it as bad as us because they live on the Gold Coast and there’s no paps on the Gold Coast and I don’t know if anyone really cared about them as much as they did us to be honest with you. But the thing is we had it a little harder because someone actually, from the get-go, said that we were together, so we struggled a little bit… we have spoke to them throughout it just to give each other a little bit of guidance and just to see that we weren’t the only ones struggling, it was really nice to have someone else who really understood what you were going through because I don’t think anyone can really understand what six months in house arrest is really like, with someone that you really love and just not being able to do normal, everyday things and it’s really challenging and it was just really good to have them there to talk to and I’m so glad that I gave Sam a rose, I didn’t know at the time what I was doing [laughs] but at the same time I also took Michael on a date. Like I’m pretty intuitive and I did see that a few things were actually happening like I knew that Michael and Tara weren’t going to be a couple so I thought I’m going to take him away and when I did that, the stars aligned.
WHO: Jarrod, Sam also mentioned that you and him are such good friends now. In the original Bachelorette, you had a somewhat fraught relationship. What happened in Paradise to rectify that?
JARROD: Obviously being in the mansion it was a lot more stressful, living in each other’s pockets for the whole time
KEIRA: And you’re competing for the same girl…
JARROD: Yeah competing for the same girl so I think you’re not focused on the bromance or a friendship at that point so but now when you’re in the island, you’re so casual and cruisey and you can actually get to know that person for who they are and they got to see who I really am as well. I can’t wait to finally catch up with them.
WHO: Any plans for a catch-up with the rest of the Bachelor In Paradise crew?
JARROD: Yeah, definitely.
KEIRA: We want them to come out to the winery, we’ve been trying to organize but our schedules have been quite hectic so once everything settles down we’ll definitely do that.
WHO: You’ve both done a fair few reality TV shows now. Is this something you both want to continue doing? Would you be open to another reality show, perhaps about your life?
KEIRA: It’s quite overwhelming the response we’re getting from our followers. Probably every second message is like ‘I miss you on our TV; we really want you to have your own show. We’re obsessed with you guys!’ I think people are really invested and it would just make sense for us to do something like that but I don’t know… I’m sure we would be able to do something but it’s not as easy as just saying ‘I want to do my own reality TV show’, there’s a lot more that goes into it, you know? You’ve got to give your whole life away.
JARROD: I’m happy to do it as long as it’s on the vineyard… [laughs]
KEIRA: Not on the vineyard, babe!
JARROD: Yep, just getting part of my life and then I’ll come back to Melbourne and we can do our normal thing.
KEIRA: Look we’ll only be filming on weekends, OK?
JARROD: Yep, done. That makes it a whole lot easier…
KEIRA: I think like obviously if the opportunity does come up we probably wouldn’t say no, to be honest with you.
JARROD: I’m still learning how to use that live feed on Instagram… too complicated [laughs].
KEIRA: I run his Instagram by the way. To any chicks out there messaging him, you know who it’s going to, OK?
WHO: Now that you can openly be a couple, what are you guys looking forward to for the rest of the year?
KEIRA: The rest of this year? Can’t we just go to breakfast first?
JARROD: [laughs] I want to focus on eating out in public first together because it was hard enough going out on your own, people recognise you but as a couple now I think more people are going to be intrigued and yeah… hopefully, we just get a bit of privacy while we’re out and about and that we can just enjoy our moments as they come.
KEIRA: So to answer your question: breakfast! [Laughs]
WHO: Jarrod, you said in the final episode that you wanted to eventually swap the commitment ring for a wedding ring. Is there a timeline for this? When can we expect an engagement?
KEIRA: Look it’s not happening anymore, we’ve had enough! [Laughs]
JARROD: [Laughs] Look there’s never a timeline on it, I think it’s the right moment in life and now that we’ve…
KEIRA: Jarrod’s got to start saving!
JARROD: Yeah, Jarrod will need to start saving but I’ve got an idea of what ring she wants but shit [laughs], I’ll just need another job, I think.
KEIRA: [Laughs]
JARROD: Or we sell the winery, either one!
KEIRA: The winery needs to go! [Laughs]
JARROD: So we can have an expensive ring and live poor, or we can live wealthy and have a cheap ring.
KEIRA: I think I’ll be happy with anything that Jarrod was to get for me but right now, honestly I know that it sounds really silly but we just want to go out together, we haven’t even out in public together except for this morning so one step at a time and if that happens… you won’t be the first to know, but you’ll probably be the fifth to know [laughs].
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