Why Bachelor in Paradise star Michael Turnbull hunts for true love on reality TV
Bachelor in Paradise star Michael Turnbull’s life is an open book - all you have to do is read his tattoos. Here’s what they say ...
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There are many stories inked into Michael Turnbull’s skin.
On his bicep the Brisbane reality TV star boasts a beautiful lady pictured with an eagle wrapping its wing around her.
It represents the close relationship he has with his mum, Susan, and sister, Michelle Reeves.
“I am very protective of my mum and my sister,” he says, running a hand over the design.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a mummy’s boy because I always do the wrong thing and that gets me into trouble but if I’ve got a big issue or a problem I will always go to my mum to talk about it and she has always got my back.”
Raised in Logan, the Bachelor in Paradise star says he is thankful for his small but tight-knit family, which has kept him grounded. His sister, who is the co-founder of exclusive online style shop The Accessory Junkie, is based in the US but the pair visit each other frequently. Michael also adores uncle duties with her two children, Ransom and Camilla.
“Michelle is like my best friend – we’ve been very close our whole lives,” he says. “Whenever we see each other it’s always like parties and fun because it’s like a holiday.”
The eagles and feathers on his skin represent Michael’s mantra to always “fly above the storm”.
“When challenges come your way, you just have to take it to the next level,” he says.
The wolf on his arm, which he had done in Melbourne last year, encapsulates his personality.
“I’m quite independent because I moved out of home when I was young (at 16, to Canberra and Sydney to train for and play professional soccer) and I travelled around a lot so I got a wolf because it’s a bit of a lonely creature but also I am very loyal to my friends – like a pack animal,” he says.
It’s the rose spanning the length of his forearm that signifies his first foray into reality television, vying for Sam Frost’s heart in the inaugural Australian season of The Bachelorette in 2015. Michael made it to the top two but was sent home in favour of Sasha Mielczarek, who split from her in late 2016. But Michael doesn’t feel he missed out.
“The stars around the rose represent the friends I made (on the show),” he says, listing the likes of Tony Strugar and Dave Billsborrow.
Now 37, Michael is doing it all again, back on our screens in the first Australian season of Bachelor in Paradise, where he went in to have “fun, first and foremost”, but was open to finding love.
“If you’re having fun, that’s when a special connection with someone is going to happen,” he says.
“I was one of the oldest guys in paradise, I was the dad of the boys. So if I found the one, I’m definitely in the situation where I do want to settle down and do the serious relationship stuff.”
Michael has been criticised since The Bachelorette, notably for reportedly “playing up” his soccer career while on the show. Having named the highlight of his career as “playing for Australia and the Socceroos and also the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000”, many on social media and the mainstream media were quick to point out his games for the country were for the Under-20 and Under-23 teams and not the senior team, and while he was in the squad for the Sydney Olympics, he only played in warm-up games.
In 2016, the former goalkeeper denied unsubstantiated allegations by Channel 9’s A Current Affair that by representing skincare brand Nerium he was involved in a pyramid scheme, saying it was a legitimate business .
It seems Michael’s every move on social media is tracked by gossip sites and magazines. But he takes it all “with a grain of salt”.
“They love to make some good entertaining stories with me but they go in waves - they go through phases where they take the piss and then they’ll write some really good articles,” says Michael, who was widely praised for auctioning himself off on a date and raising $13,000 to help cancer patient Joey Lynch head to the US for a last-hope clinical trial.
“It has been three years (since I was on The Bachelorette) and still there are good things and bad things that come out so I don’t really take them into consideration,” he says.
“I’m old enough and wise enough to know that it is just an article, they’re just trying to get clicks.”
Michael, who has been back in Brisbane since retiring from soccer and works in real estate, says his first appearance in the franchise made it “a lot harder” to date in the real world.
“Because it was the first one (The Bachelorette), there was a lot of hype and I reckon I would have had about 10,000 inbox messages from women all over the country,” he says.
“I didn’t know who wanted to go on a date with me because of me or was it because of the show? So that definitely made it harder.”
Bachelor in Paradise, Sun-Weds, 7.30pm on Channel 10.
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