‘Bachy’ Pie Guy Jackson Says His Abrasive Dad Could’ve Been Nicer To Angie
Lord of Pies Jackson was sent home from The Bachelorette on last night’s episode after a pretty uncomfortable hometown date.
He decided to take Angie to his place of work, the family business, the Garlo’s Pies head office, where he had made her a gluten-free, vegan pie (sweet!), as a callback to his disastrous opening night gambit. (Remember? He brought her a meat pie, when she’s a vegetarian coeliac.) But the conversation was quickly derailed by Jackson seeming to imply that Angie could be a freeloader.
Dinner at the family home was then haunted by both the spectre of pies, and by Jackson’s rather intense, former rugby league player father. He wanted it to be known that Jackson doesn’t take days off – except to do The Bachelorette – and that he would NOT be moving from Sydney. No way.
Then, to cap it all off, Jackson failed to express anything at all about how he feels about Angie. Just nothing. And that’s the basis of this show: to be totally vulnerable about your emotions with a beautiful woman.
That’s not to say he and Angie didn’t have their moments. He was the only person to get a one-on-one photo shoot with Angie, dressed as a penguin. On their single date, Angie got motion sick in a helicopter, and Jackson said she could spew in his top pocket. Then he opened up about his family and his commitment, assuring Angie that he’s not too young for her. Later in the season, he won the weird daddy daycare group date, and pulled a really great pash move.
Punkee spoke to Jackson about his dad, the pie empire, and whether he’d do Bachelor In Paradise.
Here’s what Jackson had to say about his time on The Bachelorette:
On his dad’s intensity with Angie, and the “hard-working” thing
“Dad only got a chance to meet Angie once. I know she’s a hard worker, because, just along the filming of the show, you can see how much of a trooper, hard-working and diligent person she is. For my dad, if he would’ve had his time again, I guess he would’ve taken off a bit of the abrasiveness. That’s not really him. He’s blunt, but at 50 years old, you kind of get a bit blunt. I think if he had his time again he probably would’ve been a little bit more nurturing to a young woman that’s coming into our house for the first time.
“I think that probably where some of [Dad’s] motivation stemmed from was that, hey, we’ve already lost this bloke for seven weeks, if we lose him forever, I just don’t think that will be able to work. He’s probably looking for a succession plan.
“[Dad] pulled me aside and said, ‘Angie’s such a great chick. She talks just as much as you do and I’ve never seen anyone like this with you.’ I guess what he wanted to do was really shore up the fact that she was in it for the right reasons and I wasn’t just having the wool pulled over my eyes.”
On being unable to talk about his feelings
“I had a really down-to-earth connection with Angie, and that’s one thing that I’ve really struggled to find. As a younger bloke, I’ve been really infatuated with girls’ beauty and sometimes it’s been beauty is only skin-deep. With Angie, she’s such a great person, and makes you so comfortable, that I was able to be more of myself than I ever have been so quickly.
“When Angie said her goodbye to me at hometowns, I just wasn’t prepared enough. I hadn’t done enough of it in my life to gather the words to form a succinct sentence and let her know how I truly felt. I wish I could’ve done more early on in the piece. One of my biggest regrets is that if I could’ve been more honest and transparent I might’ve seen a different result.
“I was definitely gutted but I wasn’t totally surprised that I didn’t receive a rose.”
On going on The Bachelorette because going to the pub wasn’t working
“I’d been single for a long time and the opportunity presented itself. I thought, why not? I haven’t found anyone how I’m doing it now. Everyone says the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, and that’s what I was doing: going to the pub every weekend, not finding the right one…”
On who he thinks will win The Bachelorette
“[Timm is] something special. He can make anyone laugh and he certainly makes Angie laugh. She said from the start that she’s looking for a funny guy, but he’s not only funny, he has a lot more depth.”
On whether he can take more time off from his pie empire for Bachelor in Paradise
“I’ve gotta really consult my uni on that. I go to uni too and that’s kind of taken a bit of a hit as well. [Dad] gets back next week. So if the conversation arises, and I get asked, then I might ask him. Otherwise I might have to be throwing myself back into the bakery.”