The Bachelor: Matt Agnew’s pre-show makeover

When Matt Agnew made his Bachelor debut he looked nothing like the geeky astrophysicist with glasses from months earlier — here’s why.

When Matt Agnew made his TV debut on The Bachelor last week viewers could be forgiven for thinking he was a different person to the man we’d met when he was first unveiled.

Gone was the adorably nerdy astrophysicist with glasses and in his place was a sans-eyewear Matt in a slick suit who could easily pass as a banker in the hallways of NAB.

Now the team behind Matt’s Bachelor look have revealed how they transformed the academic, including the simple trick that prompted plastic surgery reaction.

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Matt before. Picture: Channel 10

Matt after. Picture: Channel 10

‘FROM EVERY DAY MATT TO SUPER-HOT TOM FORD MODEL MATT’

Channel 10’s wardrobe, hair and makeup senior operator Renee Wanna said the first step was giving Matt a haircut and no, she didn’t just send him to the closest Just Cuts.

Ms Wanna told 10 Daily the process involved studying photos of Matt over time and making a mood board of what hairstyles would suit him best after researching looks on Pinterest.

“I started studying pictures of what actually needed to happen to his hair to make him go from every day Matt to super-hot Tom Ford model Matt,” she said.

“Every man’s haircut needs to be quite a square haircut, (this) compliments (a man’s) jawline. It makes them have a stronger jawline and stronger shape.”

Ms Wanna personally cut Matt’s hair before his TV promo shoot, and believes if it had been a millimetre off, it could have changed his look completely.

The work wasn’t done then either, with Ms Wanna explaining she styled his hair in a specific way to give it that “straight squareness” that “made everything look amazing”.

“I just styled (using) product and straightening irons. It’s not just a bit of gel and ‘off you go’. You need to get the structure and everything behind it,” she said.

Matt debuted his new haircut in The Bachelor’s TV promos and it was so transformative it sparked speculation from fans he had plastic surgery done — yes, really.

HOW MANY SUITS?!

With Matt’s face transformed by his new hair cut it was time to turn to a stylist to help get his wardrobe in tip-top Bachelor shape.

Kim Hurwitz, who also styles the show’s female contestants, told 10 Daily she had to create a staggering number of looks for Matt’s time on The Bachelor.

“We needed over 120 looks for the season so it was important to constantly change his look up,” she said.

Ms Hurwitz said fortunately Matt suited a variety of colours and she brought in “yellows, blues, reds, some pinks” into his show wardrobe.

“But Matt’s personal favourite (that he learnt throughout the season) is that he likes purple clothing,” she revealed.

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‘I PUT ON A FEW KILOS’

When he was confirmed as this year’s Bachelor, Matt was in the middle of working on his doctorate in philosophy.

“Leading up to submitting the PhD dissertation there was a lot of work obviously. I was running low on time,” he told the Courier-Mail.

“I literally just couldn’t get to the gym as often. I just kind of put on a few kilos. Once I got back into my fitness routine, my diet routine, there wasn’t some big She’s All That type situation.”

Matt’s diet and fitness regimen isn’t for the faint-hearted, with the 32-year-old seriously dedicated to it.

“In terms of working out, I try to run three times a week. Just short ones for 4-6kms and lifting four times a week, usually just various different (exercises). Back and bi’s (biceps), chest and tris (triceps), all that. A split so to speak,” Matt told Now To Love.

But it’s not all about exercise, with Matt also following a fairly strict diet which he says is popular among past Bachelors.

“Someone said apparently all the Bachelors do this, which I didn’t know, but I follow the whole intermittent fasting regimen. So I usually only really have coffees, I don’t do breakfast. Sometimes I’ll skip lunch,” he told the website.

“I eat in a smaller window, sometimes only 4-6 hours in the evening. They’re a lot of proteins, lean meats, salads, yoghurts. Sometimes I get stuck into those Halo Tops. It’s ‘naughty’ ice cream, but I don’t feel quite as guilty.”