Australia’s next Bachelor Matt Agnew won’t leave us high and dry like the Honey Badger

He’s one of the hunkiest Bachelors Australia has ever seen. Now Matt Agnew has opened up about why he chose reality TV over Tinder to find love.

They say love strikes when you’re least expecting it, but for 31-year-old Matt Agnew, being named as Australia’s next Bachelor couldn’t have come at a better time.

According to the astrophysicist, in the ten days between being confirmed as The Bachelor and filming duties commencing, Agnew not only had to temporarily put his life on hold and covertly share the news that he was about to become a reality television star with his family, but also complete the mammoth task of handing in his PhD.

“It was pretty full on,” the Melburnian says with a weary laugh.

Now in its seventh season, Agnew bears the heavy burden of reviving The Bachelor’s premise — and ratings — after it was brutally smashed last season by footballer Nick Cummins’ infamous decision to choose no one.

Meet Matt Agnew, this season’s Bachelor. Picture: Channel 10

The finale, which shocked fans of the franchise around the world, was unprecedented and forced Cummins to go into hiding until the dust settled.

Agnew, however, prefers to see the bigger picture rather than simply focus on the immediate past.

“The draw for me was probably the success rate. If you look back on the past six seasons you’ve got three of the relationships are married or having babies. That drew me in and made me see it as a very real and successful way to meet someone,” Agnew says.

Determined to align himself with the successful alumni of the show — Tim Robards and Anna Heinrich married last year; Sam Wood and Snezana Markoski welcomed their first child together in 2017, married in 2018 and welcomed their second child this week; Matty Johnson and Laura Byrne became engaged in April and welcomed their first child together in June — Agnew says, “I went in very optimistically and very excited to meet everyone, and I was very confident that when the time came that I would make connections just as the Bachelors prior to me have.”

He continues, “I’ve used dating apps and approached people at bars in the past, but I knew this was just another potential way to meet a partner. And obviously I’m thrilled now,” he says, as if to suggest that unlike his predecessor, all’s well that ends well.

Agnew, who has finished filming, has hinted that he has found the woman of his dreams. Picture: Channel 10

Before ending up in front of the cameras clasping a bunch of long-stemmed red roses, Agnew says his viewing of seasons past could best be described as “dipping in and out.”

“I hadn’t actually watched a season in its entirety, but I’d seen enough to know the various parts of the show,” he says.

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Applying came about, he says, as it does for many people — with friends egging him on from the sidelines.

“I had a few friends in the past saying that I should apply, so I thought why not. But I certainly didn’t expect to end up in this position. If anything, I was thinking that I’m not actually desirable enough to be considered as The Bachelor,” he says.

“I applied and answered the questions seriously and made sure I was very true to who I am, but I don’t think anyone thinks they’re that person or are going to end up as that person when they apply for the show.”

Once the car doors opened and the cameras began rolling, though, Agnew says a new fear crept in.

“I think everyone has fears in any kind of dating situation of meeting people and wondering ‘where’s the one? Where’s the person I can fall in love with and spend the rest of my life with?’ But I also had the concern not just of what if I don’t find the one, but also what if they don’t like me? They don’t even get a choice in the matter!”

Agnew says he went into the experience with an open mind. Picture: Channel 10

Thankfully, enthusiasm quickly overrode fear and Agnew dove into the challenge of meeting what he hopes will be the last person he’s ever going to date, head first.

“I was really excited about the breadth of people that I was going to meet and everything that they were going to bring to a relationship, and the various qualities that they would embody,” he says, explaining, “a lot of the qualities I look for are the same qualities a lot of people look for. Generous, supportive, compassionate, good sense of humour, driven … a lot of people embody those qualities, so it’s all about finding what the little things are that you connect over.”

When it came to finding the illustrious ‘one’ out of the many impressive and attractive women taking part in the show, Agnew says that while he didn’t go in with a checklist of sorts, he did go in with something essential to dating — an open mind.

“I obviously haven’t been successful in the past yet, and so I went in with a really open mind — I don’t have any say in the cast, obviously — thinking that there would probably be some people thought would be a good fit, some people that might be really different to someone I’ve dated in the past, and I may not have ever have met someone like that in my normal day-to-day life. I was very, very open with what I was hoping to find,” he says.

And now, months on from filming and on the eve of the show’s premiere, one has to ask, has he found that?

“I’d like to think so, yes,” Agnew says happily. “But that’s all I can say for now.”

Season 7 of The Bachelor airs Wednesday 31 July via Network 10.

Originally published as Australia’s next Bachelor Matt Agnew won’t leave us high and dry like the Honey Badger