jay lal the bachelor

Jay Lal From ‘The Bachelor’ On Her Famous Ex & The “Misconstrued” Rumours

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Jay Lal was an early favourite to win Jimmy Nicholson’s heart on this season of The Bachelor.

Being gifted the business lounge key on the very first night which gave her access to whisk Jimmy away anytime she wanted at cocktail parties, the two formed a solid connection early on, but things got rocky towards hometowns.

Jay was a target of many rumours during her time on the show – it first started with Steph saying Jay didn’t want kids, before Tahnee claimed she heard Jay say she’d rather be “runner-up” because they’re more successful. Then during Jay’s hometown visit her friend threw a spanner in the works by telling Jimmy that Jay had a famous ex (who just happened to be New Zealand’s Bachelor), and that Jay aspired to be a presenter.

All of this casted doubts in Jimmy’s mind that he couldn’t shake and he sent Jay packing before the finale.

With her time on the show over, we chatted to Jay from The Bachelor about her famous ex, what went wrong with Jimmy, and the truth about wanting to be a presenter.

On not getting through to the finale:

“Watching the episode is was quite upsetting, I didn’t think I’d cry but I did cry a bit. I’m very relieved it’s over and I’m excited to be able to tell my side story now.

It’s funny because the experience was so different to what I saw on TV. The show did show a lot of the negative drama around me and Jimmy. Jimmy and I had such a great connection and we had so many good times together that weren’t shown so that was disappointing.

Going into the rose ceremony I had an inkling I was going to get a rose and that’s because on our single date Jimmy was still questioning my integrity and I just thought… at that point, you should know who I am, you should know that I’m genuine.”

On the “frustrating” rumours that took centre stage:

“It was really frustrating, especially as so many of the rumours couldn’t be as far from the truth as possible. The first one I kinda thought was funny, then it just kept going. I was like ‘I’m so over this now’, I was getting frustrated to be honest.”

On the truth behind her famous ex (New Zealand Bachelor Moses Mackay):

“It was such an irrelevant thing and I was shocked that Jimmy thought it was a big deal. I said to him, this guy that I dated, I was 26… I’m 32 now. I dated him when he wasn’t in the public eye, he was an opera singer back then, he wasn’t the Bachelor of New Zealand! It was a very short-term relationship, and I don’t know why it was made such a big deal. I wasn’t asking Jimmy his dating history!

It was only five days after I went into the filming of The Bachelor that I found out he [Moses] was the New Zealand Bachelor so it was quite funny.”

On watching Jimmy’s interviews back and seeing his doubts:

“It was really hard to watch. I didn’t know how detrimental the rumours and everything he’d heard was to our relationship – I thought everything was fine because he’d asked me, and I’d explain, and he’d make me feel like everything was OK. It caught me off guard watching it back, I just thought ‘hold on, I thought everything was OK!’ I didn’t realise it was such a big deal.

I went away and I was thinking, ‘I could’ve said this’ but your time with him is so limited. The fact he brought up that [Moses] with me caught me so off-guard because I didn’t think that was ever going to be a conversation. At the time, I was like ‘what the hell, why is even relevant?’ and I kinda felt like I shouldn’t have to explain myself in that situation.”

On the truth behind her wanting to be a presenter:

“As a nutritionist, I’ve always wanted to look into how I can help people on a wider scale and I’ve always wanted to do presenting at nutrition conferences. I’ve done a bit before back in New Zealand, I worked for a company where we’d do nutrition talks for lower socioeconomic groups and teach them how to eat healthily, and on a budget, and things like that. That was also taken out of context, but it’s just another thing to add to the drama! It was really hard to watch that and see that being misconstrued.”

On Tahnee’s claims that Jay said she wanted to be runner-up:

“This is also so funny. I didn’t even know coming runner-up was apparently better than winning. I didn’t know getting rejected on national television was better! It’s absolutely ridiculous. I think she did what she felt she had to do to stay. I don’t know what was going through her head. I can 100% guarantee you I didn’t say that. It’s so ridiculous, I’m 32, I don’t care about a blue tick or thousands of followers!”

On Brooke’s confident return to the mansion and why she thinks Brooke will win:

“Brooke did come back a lot more confident. I don’t know whether that was because of the chats she had with Jimmy on the outside. We don’t know what happened when she was away or how often she spoke to Jimmy,  but maybe they were able to build on their connection more.

By watching it on TV you can just see how in love he is with Brooke. She keeps saying all these things he doesn’t want to hear, but he keeps her there. I can’t speak for him but it looks like he’s in love with her.”

And on what she’s learned from her time on The Bachelor and whether she’d do it all again:

“I’ve learned a lot about myself. A lot of things came my way that weren’t particularly positive and I’m happy with how I handled them. I think it could’ve gone the opposite way and I could’ve just given up. But I kept going because I thought my connection with Jimmy was really strong, and I kept putting myself through that, and it wasn’t a great experience a lot of the time. I’m proud of how I stayed strong and continued on.

“I probably wouldn’t do this [reality tv] anytime soon, I think I’d have a breakdown to be honest! I’m just excited to get back to my normal life and move on, so not any time soon!”