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Videography: Will Suen
He was the elusive slow burn who (seemingly) came out of nowhere in the second season of Australia’s The Bachelorette; an intelligent, young account director with a very decent shot at landing himself a woman by the name of (Georgia) Love. Genuine and able to communicate his feelings in perfect soundbites for some very thankful Channel Ten editors, Matty J – as he was fondly known – became the nation’s favourite dark horse. The 30-year-old will return tonight as the leading man, his heart no longer wounded and ready to sift his way through the attributes of 22 hopeful women in his second televised shot at love. Here, the new Bachelor speaks to GRAZIA about if he’s fearful of his portrayal post-editing, love at first conversation, what makes a great kiss and whether he has truly found lasting love.
GRAZIA: How are you going to be watching your big premiere tonight?
MATTY J: “The big premiere is going to be spent with a few of the boys from The Bachelorette in Melbourne. I’m going to catch up with Clancy, Matt Dunn and Lee as well.”
Is that a little bit weird?
“[Laughs] I don’t know, is that weird? The very first time I spoke to Lee after we filmed The Bachelorette – it was a little bit strange – because he was the new boyfriend of my then-ex, which is a bit odd. But we talk all the time now and we’re all close friends and we all hang out.”
You’ve said you believe in love at first conversation as opposed to love at first sight. What makes great conversation?
“For me, I think it’s just that conversation that’s really effortless where you’re not having to scrape the barrel for small talk or topics and it’s just free-flowing and one that makes you laugh a lot as well.”
You were a dark horse in The Bachelorette. We didn’t see too much of you as you didn’t get a single date for a little while. Without giving away too much, is there a slow burn contestant is this season?
“I was really aware that I was a slow burn and it made me similar to a lot of the girls. For me, I was just really nervous from the beginning and it took a while for my personality to come out. I was aware when I met the women if there somebody was a little bit more quiet, I wanted to give them the opportunity to let them have their personality come through over time. And that does happen.”
Have you found lasting love?
“I have. Very good question. I was like, ‘do I throw her off the scent?’ But I am really happy right now.”
You hesitated…
“I know, I was like – I’ve told everyone that maybe I should change my answer but I am really happy at the moment.”
You’ve said your deal-breaker is someone who wouldn’t want to have children and get married someday, but when it comes to day-to-day behaviour, what’s a turn-off for you?
“Easily the biggest turn-off for me is somebody who is just rude or unkind. And I guess maybe on the group dates, if I saw anybody who showed those sorts of attributes, that would be a huge turn-off for me. If you’re really sweet and kind, I rate that highly in my books.”
One thing we really loved about watching you in The Bachelorette is how genuine you were and how well you could communicate your feelings – in perfect sounds bites nonetheless! The previous Bachelor Richie also came off really well as a contestant but then the public didn’t warm to him as much as The Bachelor, were you ever fearful of your portrayal and coming back for another season?
“I think people were really harsh on Richie. I definitely weighed up all the pros and cons and one of the cons could potentially be that as a lead Bachelor, people wouldn’t enjoy me as much on The Bachelorette but I guess I just kind of saw it as I was entirely myself on The Bachelorette and that’s what people liked and if I’m myself again on The Bachelor then hopefully they could continue to enjoy watching me on TV.”
Switching back to your time as a contestant, how hard is it being in a house knowing that the person you really like is going on another date with another man and potentially kissing them?
“It’s really hard and it’s really weird and it’s the most unusual environment to find yourself in. Especially because the guys who you are essentially competing against are also your support network and your friends as well. It’s hard when you have someone come back from a date and you ask how it was, being polite, and they tell you certain details and you do get really jealous. You have to kind of adapt to that environment and mask that jealousy and make sure it doesn’t boil over.”
In life, are you a jealous person?
“I wouldn’t say I’m really jealous but I think you can’t help not be jealous when I was really aware that with the women, when I had a date with one girl, I had to kind of box that up, put I to the side and then go on a date with another girl and that first girl has to sit back and watch that play out, its’ going to make anybody jealous.”
What makes a great kiss?
“I’ve never been asked that question [Laughs]. For me, I think it does come down to really having that strong connection with someone, when you really do click with somebody and I think that’s what makes a kiss so much more special and when there’s a lot of emotion behind it.”
The Bachelor Australia premieres 7.30pm tonight on Channel Ten.
