Carlie From ‘The Bachelor’ On The Jay/Brooke Drama & Who She Hopes Will Win Jimmy’s Heart
She came, she charmed the whole country, and then she left. Corporate lawyer, Carlie Hodges, looked like the hot favourite to go to next week’s The Bachelor finale, but last night she was left roseless — missing out on making Jimmy Nicholson’s top three.
This leaves Holly Kingston, Brooke Cleal, and Jay Lal to duke it out next week for a spot in the final two. Fans last night were divided over both Brooke and Jay’s inclusion in the top three — instead of Carlie — as they both exhibited red flags on the hometowns episode.
In the case of Brooke, her brother revealed to Jimmy that she would struggle spending time alone while he’s working long hours, while Jay’s friend dropped a bombshell: not only has Jay dated someone in the public eye before, she has aspirations to be a famous presenter herself. This little tidbit of information supports a recent rumour going around the house that Jay is only doing the show to boost her profile.
Meanwhile in her time on The Bachelor, Carlie has proven to be nothing but a kind, delightful, unproblematic queen, yet she was the one who was sent packing last night. Men, amirite?
We spoke to Carlie about her time on The Bachelor, her thoughts on the final three, and who she reckons should win.
View this post on Instagram
On whether she was “blindsided” by Jimmy’s decision:
“In the few days between hometowns and the rose ceremony, despite my hometowns going swimmingly well and having such a great time with Jimmy and my family, there was just something inside me that felt weird and emotional. I couldn’t put my finger on what that was, so when I didn’t receive a rose at the rose ceremony, I was like, ‘Was that my intuition telling me that it wasn’t right for me?’ I was accepting of it because I had this weird feeling inside me.”
On Jay previously dating the New Zealand Bachelor:
“I didn’t hear that in the mansion,” she said. “Jay didn’t really talk too much about her relationships at all. Jay and I spoke lots in the mansion, but our conversations were probably a bit more surface-level,” she said.
“I think that’s just circumstantial, I don’t think there’s a correlation at all between her being on The Bachelor and him being the New Zealand Bachelor. You’d expect that he’d be under pretty strict confidentiality and she wouldn’t have known that at the time that he’d become The Bachelor.”
On the rumours about Jay and whether she was on the show for fame:
“Jay and I never spoke about her feelings towards Jimmy — so I have no basis or opinion on that. We got along really well and enjoyed each other’s company. Her intentions in the mansion and intentions with Jimmy was something we never chatted about,” Carlie said.
“I think everyone who was on the show was initially there for love, I don’t think you’d put yourself through this if you weren’t there for love,” Carlie told us. “I think everybody had to work out if Jimmy was right for them, you can’t expect 23 women to have the same taste in men and all fall in love with one person — so I think everyone’s intentions going in were true, but they had to work out if Jimmy was right for them.”
Me trying to find out who Jay dated #TheBachelorAU pic.twitter.com/2ZBa9N8yIA
— Georgia Love (@GeorgieALove) August 26, 2021
On whether Brooke should have come back, considering she had so many reservations about Jimmy:
“I think being away for Brooke, gave her time to think about whether she wanted to make it work with Jimmy and if he was the person she could see herself being with. And he obviously was and that’s why she came back. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to come back and still have reservations, because there was still time to discuss those with him. If she didn’t come back, she’d probably have a big question mark over her head, thinking ‘what if!’ It’s hard for her to work through those queries and questions, without actually talking to him.”
On the women not seeing the real Holly in the mansion:
“Holly’s my bestie and we still talk every day. Her and I started the experience together, so before we went into the mansion we were in a hotel for a couple of days. We were buddied up and shared a hotel room together — so we got to know each other well from day one,” she said.
“That just stuck for me and Holly in the mansion, we were who each other could lean on. We were there for each other through the ups and downs. Holly does have a very particular sense of humour though, she is very dry and she’s kind of like the kid in the playground who whacks the girl that he has a crush on.
“Sometimes her sense of humour can be a bit tongue-in-cheek, so some of the women may have taken that the wrong way. But she’s actually so funny, and so dorky, and one of the most thoughtful and kind people I’ve ever met. I think some of the women just put her in a box pretty early and didn’t give her the chance to show her sense of humour is endearing once you understand it.”
View this post on Instagram
On what surprised Carlie most about filming:
“We filmed pretty much all day, every day. If we weren’t on a date with Jimmy, we were doing interviews and group chats — there was so much content. It’s interesting to see that only the minuscule tip of the iceberg is shown and underneath there’s so much more context. But in saying that, I think the show was a fair representation of everything that happened.”
On not wanting to be described by Jimmy as “the full package”:
“I’ve got the great family, I’ve got a great job, people find me attractive, all of those things, and it’s almost as if people form a checklist of attributes that I have and like the idea of me. I think when he [Jimmy] said those words to me on our first date, I was ‘Oh, yeah, been there, done that! I don’t want to just be a list of attributes, I’m more than that!’ I’m more than just my job, I’m more than just my family.”
On who she hopes will win Jimmy’s heart:
“I’m a bit biased but Holly, as we’ve spoken about, was my bestie and I saw such a beautiful side of Holly and got to experience what kind of person she wholeheartedly is, and what she could offer in a relationship. I’m hoping that it’s Holly because I just think she’s wonderful, but also from what I’m seeing on screen, I think Jimmy is pretty keen on her.”
–
The final week of The Bachelor kicks off Wednesday night at 7:30pm on Channel 10.