Geelong reality TV contestants largely won our hearts across our screens this year, but some left a bad taste. We look back at those who lapped up their 15 seconds of fame in 2020.
JESS WOLFE
Geelong reality TV star Jess Wolfe hoped to find love in 2020, but says she’s ending the year as single as she started it.
The 25-year-old Farmer Wants a Wife contestant may have had her heart broken on national television but insists she has no regrets about her brush with fame.
The bubbly real estate agent “won” the heart of a country bloke on this year’s season of Farmer Wants a Wife.
But her love interest broke it off while the two were on holidays.
At the reunion episode, which aired in late August, it was revealed to viewers he had rekindled romance with the runner-up.
While the happy-go-lucky South Geelong woman has no plans to publicly air her quest for love through television again, she is proud of her experiences.
“It was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity and one I don’t regret,” she said.
“It was an unbelievable experience.”
Wolfe said she had left the show with a greater understanding of what goes on behind the camera and was aware of how much work being on television was.
But, Wolfe says the experience had not changed her and has vowed to stay true to herself in 2021.
“I have stayed normal, I’m still hanging out with the same people, it’s done nothing except made me more open to any opportunity that comes my way,” she said.
Wolfe said she was still happily singly but hoped to fined love in the new year.
“I won’t be going on any love shows but maybe I’ll have a bit more luck finding someone,” she said.
Wolfe said she wanted to “walk into the pub or meet someone at the deli”.
But while Wolfe won’t be looking for love on camera she hasn’t ruled out reality television altogether.
“If it fits my personality … why not?”
Wolfe did return to screens in October, hosting a digital cook-along series while most of us were in lockdown.
ADAM TODD
The Bachelorette
The Bachelorette favourite Adam Todd has also not ruled out another stint on reality TV.
The fan favourite and heart-throb left the The Bachelorette single, looking for love.
The former Ocean Grove man was eliminated from the show after failing to receive a rose from bachelorette Elly Miles.
Todd grew up in Ocean Grove and attended Bellarine Secondary College, before moving to Melbourne to study geology.
He has since moved to Western Australia for his profession, but the surfer loves coming home to visit family, with his mum in Ocean Grove and sister in Torquay.
He said his dream local date would be a surf at Ocean Grove’s main beach followed by a bite to eat at a local cafe.
Mr Todd said he was buoyed by the support of viewers and did not rule out starring as The Bachelor if asked.
LUKE EGLIN
Married At First Sight
Where did it all go wrong? The truth is, we may never know.
Geelong dad Luke Eglin and his “wife” Poppy Jennings went through an acrimonious split while appearing on Married At First Sight.
Ms Jennings, 38, dramatically ditched the experiment claiming she missed her young twin boys.
However in an exit interview posted on the Married At First Sight Australia YouTube page after the episode, she all but admitted she left because she didn’t fancy Luke.
“I’ve said from the beginning that I’m not going to stick around for something that isn’t going to be absolute true love,” she said in the clip.
“It would have been like flogging a dead horse.”
Mr Eglin responded by laying low.
LYDIA LASSILA
Australian Survivor: All Stars
Lorne resident and Olympic gold medallist Lydia Lassila knew she was in for a mental and physical challenge when she competed in the Australian Survivor: All Stars.
Lassila competed on Australian Survivor: Champions vs. Contenders in 2018, and returned for Australian Survivor: All Stars, which aired this year.
Her enjoyment of her first season inspired her return.
“Everyone loves the experience, everyone is going to be deceived or lied to but what everyone has in common is you love the experience,” she said.
“Not for the TV side of things but the experience, that’s what I loved about it.
Lassila was busy in 2020, also launching a yoga brand.
STACEY CAIN
Farmer Wants a Wife
Grovedale’s Stacey Cain, 28, grew up on a farm in southwest Victoria and works on farms doing tasks including stock work.
She dreams of raising kids on a farm.
Stacey spent the last few years travelling around properties while being based in Grovedale, and said her friends had pushed her to apply for Farmer Wants a Wife.
She is still looking for love after failing to find it on the show.
AM BER GWYNNE
Farmer Wants a Wife
Amber Gywnne’s public quest for love was short-lived, with the Geelong local booted during the first episode of Farmer Wants a Wife.
Since leaving the show, the model agent has been spreading body positivity through her Instagram account @nonairbrushedme where she challenges the public perceptions of beauty.
STEPH HARPER
The Bachelor
Bellarine Peninsula beauty Steph Harper won the hearts of viewers but failed to find love when she appeared on The Bachelor this year.
Ms Harper, a special needs teacher, won extra time with Locky Gilbert after planting a kiss on the Bachelor while he was blindfolded on a group date.
But romantic sparks did not fly during their one-on-one time and Ms Harper wasn’t given a rose.
STELLAR PERRY - The Voice
Reality television veteran Stellar Perry made it to the finals of the The Voice this year.
Perry, 36, was no stranger to the small screen having previously appeared on talent shows Starstruck, Australian Idol and the X-Factor.
“I thought I’d never do it again,” Perry told the Addy this year.
But Perry, who grew up in Hobart as Amanda Grafanakis, made it to the final four under the guidance of coach Delta Goodrem.
The pair performed a duet of the Kate Bush song Running Up That Hill before Perry sang Anyone by Demi Lovato for her solo performance.
LUKE BISCAN
Geelong live music scene veteran Luke Biscan also competed on the voice alongside Perry.
Biscan is now back playing Geelong’s venues with a gig at The Arborist this week.
Biscan, 31, told the Addy he uses singing as a way to express his emotions about his strict religious upbringing.
The Fyansford resident was raised in Bristol, UK, in the close community of a religion some have labelled a cult.
“We believed we were the one true church,” he said.
“If you were Christian but weren’t in our group or directly associated groups you weren’t really a Christian.”
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? — NADIA STAMP
ex-MAFS
Former Married At First Sight contestant Nadia Stamp may not have found love on the show, but she is now happily living with her cricketer boyfriend in Geelong.
Stamp and Glen Talarico moved to his home town of Geelong earlier this year.
Talarico signed on as coach of Bell Post Hill cricket club for two years in 2019, after a successful career as a player in the Geelong Cricket Association.
The couple, who met almost three years ago at a Geelong football match at the MCG, were living in Melbourne but decided to make the lifestyle change.
Stamp, who this year launched an at-home nail service, came into the spotlight in 2017 when she entered the show Married At First Sight.
The Adelaide-born entrepreneur is now enjoying a more low-key life in Geelong.
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