NewsBite

Millionaire doesn't last long in Beauty and the Geek house

HERVEY BAY native Nathan Hoad has been eliminated from the reality show just one week after being outded as a wealthy geek.

Millionaire "geek" Nathan Hoad.
Millionaire "geek" Nathan Hoad.

ONE week after being revealed as the secret millionaire on Channel 7's Beauty and the Geek, former Urangan State High School student Nathan Hoad was eliminated from the hit television show tonight.

The 25-year-old, who now lives in Brisbane and is the co-founder of social media network Kondoot, said his exit from the show was not a case of tall poppy syndrome.

He felt it was more a case of strategic thinking from the show's other contestants as he and beauty Jessica were something of a power couple in the house and he felt that was what led to their nomination.

The two had done well in several challenges and were also flying under the radar before Nathan dramatically outed himself as the millionaire after the contestants completed a world-record hugging challenge.

Keeping the secret was easy for Hoad - but dealing with the fallout was a bit of a challenge.

"Jess had a bit of a freak out," he said.

He said he didn't think attitudes had changed towards him in the house after he was revealed to be the millionaire, except that he was noticed a bit more and felt more of the contestants approached him to start conversations.

"If it did it wasn't very evident," he said.

Since the $100,000 cash prize for winning the show probably held less appeal for Hoad than other contestants, it's not surprising to hear there were other motivating factors behind his decision to join the show.

One of the motivations was the fact that Hoad spends up to 90 hours a week behind a computer - something that doesn't allow him to socialise much with other people.

He said while he loves working with computers and technology, it was still important to talk to people face to face and go out into the real world from time to time.

Hoad said his time on the show had shown him there were many different "flavours" of geeks, from those who spend a lot of time behind a computer screen to those who love Pokemon.

His partner through the show, Jessica, was someone Hoad described as having a big heart.

The pair also bonded with fellow Queenslanders Jason and Kristy, with whom they shared a room in the Geek house.

The four got along well, with the two beauties taking time to teach the geeks about how to behave in social situations and the geeks teaching them "random and interesting stuff," Hoad said.

But he refused to divulge whether romance had developed for him while he was on the show.

Hoad said the beauties were far from airheads, and while the girls weren't necessarily academically minded, he felt that was why the show worked so well.

"It's like worlds collide," he said.

Hoad said he had enjoyed his time on the show.

"It was amazing," he said.

"It was a heap of fun. It was a once in a lifetime thing."

Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/central-queensland/millionaire-doesnt-last-long-in-beauty-and-the-geek-house/news-story/3be4e199d375c9771e2acadf6f95a5d2