The Bachelor host Osher Gunsberg reveals his own showbiz luck and more about Jimmy Nicholson

Osher Gunsberg almost hit rock bottom until he got The Bachelor Australia’s hosting gig. Now he reveals how the show’s new man Jimmy Nicholson stands out from the rest.

Host with the most Osher Gunsberg constantly marvels at his luck. He’s heading into his ninth season of helming The Bachelor Australia, breaking his previous record of seven with James Mathison on Australian Idol.

Before Warner Bros and Ten came calling, Gunsberg was staring down the barrel of turning 40, unemployed, no house, divorced, newly sober – at the absolute bottom he says.

“I got this job and I still can’t believe it – nobody gets two bites at the cherry but I have,” Gunsberg says. “I relish every second and I try as hard to pay back Buddha or whoever guides the universe. I try hard as I can to pay them back every day.

“I know what it is like to have your show cancelled on you. One day you’ve got the house and the car and then the show is cancelled and you go ‘how am I going to pay for the house and the car and everything?’. I know what that’s like.”

So as he heads into this ninth season with pilot Jimmy Nicholson looking for love in the mansion, he goes in with the same level of excitement and enthusiasm as when he and Tim Robards kicked off the Australian franchise in 2013.

“Look I work with the most incredible people,” Gunsberg says.

The Bachelor host Osher Gunsberg is back with a new season of the popular show.

“I’m one of the only people on the show who are still doing the same job. There are people who started as 18-year-old production runners who are now fully fledged camera people. I’m thrilled about this. People come up through junior producers, story producers, executive producers and are now story runners.

“I love that these people I’ve worked with all this time have the ability to move and advance in our industry.”

And he is genuinely enthused about 31-year-old Nicholson’s quest for love. And there’s certainly the hint of romance in the air. Or maybe it’s bromance?

“He’s such a great man,” Gunsberg says. “I love that I get to work with some really great men on this show.

“He’s a commercial airline pilot who likes to restore vintage motorcycles. He’s got a body made of anchor rope and he’s just stunning.

“I did swim in his turquoise blue eyes like I’m snorkelling in the blue lagoon of his parents’ homeland (New Zealand and Fiji).

“But he is also a very emotional intelligent available man. He’s got the confidence and self-worth that if he feels sad about something he’s OK to cry. He knows that doesn’t make him a weak person.

“I’m just so grateful that we are going to be able to show this way of masculinity.

“You can’t be what you can’t see – so to be able to showcase this incredible balance of achievement, drive and power and compassion and empathy any vulnerability … we’re just really lucky to show the world that these people exist.”

Jimmy Nicholson who will be in the 2021 season of Channel 10's The Bachelor. Picture: Richard Dobson

Gunsberg has long been an advocate of being real and open about all of his own struggles.

“I think it’s about what you’re going to do with the platform you’re given,” Gunsberg says. “Whether it’s about why you want to be a schoolteacher. Do you want to do it because you think it’s an easy job? Or is it because with this platform, I can absolutely change lives?

“For me, I’m doing this job I love doing – and I like to think that I’m good at it, I’d like to think it wasn’t by accident that they gave it to me. So then it’s about what I get to do with the platform I have.

“That’s why I started the podcast (Better than Yesterday) in 2013. And that’s what led to the book (Back, After the Break). And it’s led to other things, not that my TV job isn’t fulfilling. It’s incredibly fulfilling without anything else.

“But I’m just so grateful that I am able to do all of these other things, because of the momentum my career has at the moment. I consider it a great honour and I don’t like to take advantage or take the piss like I’m trying to shove anything down anyone’s throat. I’m just trying to be an advocate for being a bit more human to each other and more mindful of how we treat the world we live in.”

Osher Gunsberg has been more open about his personal experiences. Picture: Channel 10

He recently exposed more of his vulnerable side for ABC’s You Can’t Ask That, sharing intimate details about living with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). He was 40 when he realised something was up. And while it’s very common with one in 50 Australians living with the condition, Gunsberg says it’s very misunderstood.

“I was grateful to be part of (the show) – I’m just really trying to put conversations out there that weren’t there when I needed to hear them. Hopefully it can help someone when they need to hear them – whether that’s about sobriety, or mental health or parenting with DadPod with Charlie (Clausen) or Idle Australians with James (Matheson) now.

“I’m just trying to have all these conversations out there so that when you want to pick up this trail of breadcrumbs, there they are.

“I’m just trying to put these things out there because they weren’t there when I needed them. I wished I could have heard them when I needed them.”

We’re suddenly cut off mid-interview and when we’re reconnected Gunsberg has been left holding the baby. Quite literally, as his son pulls at his headphones trying to reclaim his dad’s attention.

Matty J worked alongside Osher Gunsberg and found his true love on The Bachelor. Picture: Supplied by Channel 10.

Gunsberg co-parents two children with wife Audrey, almost two-year old Wolfie and Georgia, 17 who’s studying for the HSC. It’s parenting at very opposite ends of the spectrum, and again Gunsberg employs his attitude of gratitude.

“It’s the most wonderful exciting challenge, I’ve ever had in my life,” he enthuses. “I adore these kids. You hear people who’ve got kids when you don’t tell you how great it is and you’re a bit like ‘Is it though? – you talk a lot about how little you’re sleeping and how much money you don’t have’.

“I love my friends – they are great human beings, but I would spend every minute of the day with these kids. It’s so much fun.”

So, it’s not a case of saying yes to all the shows currently filling up his dance card, writing books and podcasts to escape the challenges of raising the kids?

Gunsberg laughs as he clarifies it is absolutely not.

“What people don’t quite get is that whether it’s Bachelor or Bachelorette or Masked Singer, we shoot in really intense blocks,” he explains. “So while you see it spread out over 10-12 weeks, we are shooting long hours every day and then there’s nothing. So trust me, there’s plenty of time at home. There’s really no escaping.”

The Bachelor, Wednesday, 7.30pm, Ten