Why The Bachelor’s Jimmy and Holly haven’t contacted runner-up Brooke

The Bachelor’s Jimmy and Holly have revealed why they are yet to contact the show’s runner-up, Brooke, who was left distraught in the finale.

It’s been a whirlwind few weeks keeping their romance under wraps, but Jimmy Nicholson and Holly Kingston are finally able to share their love with the world.

The duo ended up in each other’s arms in last night’s finale of The Bachelor Australia, and already have plans to move in together in Bondi next month, with plans to progress to marriage and children in the next couple of years.

But in the process of finding his forever with the 27-year-old Sydney marketing manager, Jimmy was also forced to break the heart of runner-up, Brooke Cleal, who was blindsided by the decision and broke down in tears.

Jimmy, 31, told news.com.au he hasn’t yet contacted Brooke since filming ended, with Holly adding that they wanted to give her space before reaching out.

Brooke had her heart broken on The Bachelor finale.

“I think with Brooke, we both speak so highly of her, she’s such a kind beautiful girl, but I think it would be fair to give her time,” Holly told us.

“But we will 100 per cent reach out to her, and I would be happy for Jimmy to do that too.”

Jimmy added: “You saw, it was emotionally draining. It sucked. And that’s it, you don’t speak to them for a while.

“But Brooke is very close to her family, she’s got a great network around her. It’s pretty brutal because I do think Brooke thought she was the one and it makes it even more brutal in that regard.

“But that was part of it, I knew that was going to happen going into this.”

Holly, who reunited with Jimmy to watch the finale together last night, said he became emotional watching the scene back.

“I looked over at him when the Brooke scene was happening and he had tears in his eyes again,” she revealed. “He’s such a genuinely caring person and it was very hard for him.”

While the pair have been smitten in their love bubble during the Channel 10 show’s seven-week run, there was no denying this series suffered record-low ratings.

Jimmy admitted the season’s struggling viewership initially had him feeling “down”.

“I must admit I didn’t know much about ratings, but it doesn’t bother me that much. I got a little bit down, I was like ’oh no people aren’t watching it’. I thought about the fans from that perspective we wouldn’t wanna let them down, but at the end of the day we got what we wanted out of it and couldn’t be happier,” he confessed.

Jimmy and Holly’s season has suffered poor ratings.

In a bid to keep the final result a secret, the couple have only managed to see each other a handful of times since filming wrapped, mostly staying in contact via phone.

“We’ve had a few little cheeky rendezvous organised by Warner Bros and 10, which is important. Unfortunately we had to cancel a few (due to Covid) but that’s the beauty of FaceTime,” Jimmy said.

When they did get a chance to meet, “we were both getting picked up separately in the darkness of night and taken off to secret locations. I called her Mark the whole time on my phone. I’m actually surprised I didn’t mess it up and let it slip.”

Jimmy and Holly said The Bachelor’s low ratings didn’t faze them.

As for when he realised Holly was the one, Jimmy said he had a good idea early on during filming but had his light bulb moment toward the end.

“I knew Holly was someone I wanted to be with in the early days, but I spent a lot of time focusing on who I didn’t want to be there,” he said.

“It wasn’t until the end where I was like, I’ve got to make a decision, and I definitely knew towards the end she was going to be the one.”

Originally published as Why The Bachelor’s Jimmy and Holly haven’t contacted runner-up Brooke