Sweet or sour — is the Honey Badger, Nick Cummins really looking for love on The Bachelor?
NICK Cummins has responded to critics questioning whether his search for love on The Bachelor is genuine, and it is in true Honey Badger fashion.
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WHEN former rugby international, Nick Cummins was named The Bachelor, cynical types questioned whether the sporting character would take his search for love seriously.
Asked by TV GUIDE about the criticism and the 30-year-old responds in the style of his alter ego, the Honey Badger.
For those not familiar with the pedigree of the nickname, it emerged around the same time as an Attenborough-esque animal video, which went viral back in 2011.
Voiced by a sassy US comedian called Randall, he gave the critter plenty of attitude and a ‘don’t give a sh*t’ catchphrase to be used when facing any of life’s challenges.
Like, say, being attacked for signing up for a dating show as a way to build your professional brand, instead of genuinely wanting to find a real mate.
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The Honey Badger sniffs: “I don’t see how (sic) I should be offended. Opinions are like bum holes. Everybody’s got one and for me personally, I’m happy I did it [The Bachelor].”
Besides, Cummins boasts, the approach by Ten to follow former pop singer, Sophie Monk as the format’s next celebrity singleton was not the first time he’d been offered the chance to find love on reality TV.
“When the opportunity first came along, I said ‘no, I’m not ready.’”
Getting over his last, six-year relationship with glamorous Norwegian artist, Martine Strom Thomassen - which ended 18 months ago - was reason enough for his stalling.
After time went by and producers asked again, he explains, “I had a bit of a think about it and thought, ‘you know what? I think this has come about right now for a reason. There’s some stuff here I’ve got to learn and experience.’”
“You sort of think, ‘well, [dating] on TV is a pretty big thing, with all the cameras … if you’re already unsure if you’re over things, or over past relationships,’ he rambles.
“As time goes on, your mind has time to process it and you think ‘yeah, you know what, I’m over it. I’m healed … let’s go.”
He warned his former live-in girlfriend about his Bachelor commitment, but adds: “she’s awesome and we’re good friends [but] I don’t want to drag her into anything she doesn’t need to be involved in.”
Particularly appealing about the TV experiment, he says, was the chance to find “that special someone in an environment where they don’t know about all this [profile].”
“They [contestants] don’t have access to the Net. They don’t have any preconceived ideas about who I am. They just see me and take me for me, right when I’m standing there in front of them, having a yarn to them.”
Beyond rugby circles, Queensland-raised Cummins had won broader acclaim back in 2014 when he traded in his Wallabies jersey for a lucrative deal in Japan, in order to secure the financial future of his then ailing single father Mark and seven siblings.
He would leave the local code a cult figure, earning notoriety for his post-match interviews which he coloured with Paul Hogan-style slang.
It would lead to other endorsements, most notably for a men’s underwear brand which saw him tooling about in TV commercials, wearing only his jocks.
A series of books, written as the Honey Badger, were also telling of the cockiness he assumes as the fearless lothario – chasing laughs and women.
Still, Cummins hints the women who did recognise him on The Bachelor apparently got short shrift.
“A couple knew a fair bit but I suppose that didn’t really do it for me, eh? If someone knows all this stuff, I almost turned away from it a little bit. But if it’s a fresh start, then I’m into it.”
The right woman will also have to share him with the wilderness, his other great passion – the basis for his National Geographic series, Meanwhile In Australia; and a necessary part of maintaining his zen.
After filming wrapped on The Bachelor, Cummins was choppered into a ‘secret’ spot in The Kimberley for some precious “alone time.”
“This world’s bloody crazy and caught up in the wrong stuff,” he preaches. “Everyone’s so stressed out and I need to get into nature, get away from people. Reset, recharge the batteries and then come back in and spin a few yarns and boost the morale,” he says.
For any lady in his life, his sales pitch as a potential partner is part Oprah, part rugby coach.
“I’m honest, adventurous and I’m big on progress … with regards to development mentally, physically, spiritually in a relationship sense,” he states, in all seriousness.
“Growing as a being and a team.”
Game on, ladies.
See the latest odds on this year’s The Bachelor.
* The Bachelor, 7.30pm, Wednesday, Ten.