As I'm sure you'll all remember, The Honey Badger outraged fans of the hit dating series when he infamously dumped both Brittany Hockley and Sophie Tieman in the finale episode.
“I was actually disappointed that people are so brainwashed, you’re not going to get your fairytale ending every time,” the former rugby player told ABC's Radio National at the time. “And what’s more important, me just saying ‘yes’ and going through the motions and dragging some girl through all this media about how we’re in love and then three months down the track after the contract’s over, um, we’re allowed to break up.
“I’m not going to drag them through that rubbish … and break her heart. Bugger that.”
Despite breaking two people's hearts in the process, it was recently revealed that Nick still earned a killing off of his appearance on the show.
Series favourite Brooke Blurton revealed on the Shameless In Conversation podcast that despite picking no one at the end of the controversial series, The Honey Badger earned far more than Sophie Monk and Matty Johnson for his stint on The Bachelor.
"I think it was a bit more, I think it was half mill maybe,” Brooke told the show’s hosts Zara McDonald and Michelle Andrews.
Considering The Bachelorette's Sophie Monk reportedly made $300, 000 and Matty is rumoured to have pocketed $200, 000 for The Bachelor, if Brooke's claims are accurate, Nick's earnings would make him the highest-paid star by a long shot.
Last year, a representative from Network Ten revealed those who are famous in their own right will inevitably receive a higher salary.
"Sophie will earn a lot more (than previous Bachelors and Bachelorettes) because her management would have negotiated well."
While on the podcast, Brooke also opened up about her abrupt exit from the series, admitting the former Wallabies player— who dumped Sophie Tieman and Brittanny during the show's finale— told the social worker that he planned to pick no one.
“We went on our date and we went on the motorbike and he kind of like stopped the go pro, held my mic … he held his, and he’s kind of like driving but he’s mimicking, ‘three zero, me zero,’” Blurton explained. “I had to continue the date still, and I got off the motorbike and I was talking to my minder and I was like I’m so confused, and I couldn’t tell her, because I couldn’t trust anyone,” she said.
After filming wrapped, the sports star tried to remain in contact with Brooke, sending her dozens of messages through Instagram that would instantly disappear after she'd read them.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to say, but I don’t care,” she said. “I think as soon as he landed in Australia and got his phone back and everything, he messaged me being like, ‘this show didn’t end the way that it would’ve ended,’ something quite cryptic.
She continued: "We were messaging but we weren’t messaging like normal messaging, it was like Instagram photo, so there was no proof that he had said anything to me because it was through photos (that disappeared)."
