Entertainment
  1. Home
  2. Entertainment
  3. TV & Radio

The Bachelor 2016: Richie Strahan appears to have found love despite inner struggle

Michael Lallo

"Every girl he's chosen so far is blonde," one worried brunette observes.

Up Next

Replay

Replay Video Icon
Player help icon

More Entertainment Videos

More videos

Trailer: The Bachelor 2016

The contestants in the latest cycle of The Bachelor Australia have been revealed by Channel Ten.

Never mind that filming has just begun. In the febrile environment that is a Bachelor cocktail party, this sparks a debate. Does Richie Strahan – star of Channel Ten's hit dating show – prefer good personality or good hair?

Strahan, a 31-year-old rope access technician from Perth, glides over. He selects a woman, asking her to join him for a drink. Every move is flawless.

Richie on a date with former Bachelorette Sam Frost.
Richie on a date with former Bachelorette Sam Frost. Photo: Channel Ten

Once they're alone, he stumbles, mentioning his date with another contestant. Realising his mistake, he changes course – by rattling off the specifications of his motorbike.

"He's a naturally nervy guy," says Shaun Murphy, head of entertainment for Warner Bros International Television in Australia. "But it's endearing.

Advertisement

"Some guys [get so nervous] they just fluff it, whereas he gets in his groove ... he grows, and we love seeing that."

Viewers met Strahan last year, as a competitor on The Bachelorette. When he was sent home by Sam Frost (the jilted winner of a previous season of The Bachelor, if you can keep up), producers pegged him as a leading man.

Richie Strahan, the star of Channel Ten's hit dating show.
Richie Strahan, the star of Channel Ten's hit dating show. 

But not because he's a carbon copy of his predecessors. Tim Robards, Blake Garvey and Sam Wood were relentlessly slick; Strahan has a charmingly goofy side. It doesn't hurt that he looks like he's stepped off the set of The Bold and the Beautiful, either.

"What sets Richie apart is that he's funny – like, rolling in the aisles funny," says host Osher Gunsberg.

"He had the girls in stitches the whole time. Plus, he's very adventurous. He's up for anything. He hangs off the side of oil rigs in the Indian ocean for a living."

That's not as scary as what's unfolding tonight. On a warm evening in March, Fairfax Media tours the new Bachelor mansion, a Kardashian-esque compound in Sydney's bible belt. Near the pool, one woman is channelling her psychic nan. Another is goaded into reading a terrible poem aloud.

"If he comes to me, he comes to me," declares a contestant.

"But he doesn't even know who you are," counters her nemesis. It's perfect fodder for a promo.

Strahan has endured his fair share of awkward cocktail parties on The Bachelorette. He also knows what it's like to wait for a rose in those dramatic eviction ceremonies. He finds it more wrenching, though, to be the bachelor: the one who sends women packing.

"Richie is the guy who would never want anyone in the room to not be smiling," Gunsberg says.

"When he is the one who is responsible for making someone in the room unhappy, it's very tough for him."

Having filmed months in advance, the series is now in the can. Strahan all but guarantees he found love: "I can confirm I'm extremely happy," he says.

Between The Bachelorette and The Bachelor, he worked on an offshore drilling ship called Deepwater Millenium. It was a good grounding for the brutal realm of social media.

"Working in oil and gas, you cop a lot of grief from your mates, but in a fun way," he says. "So a few bad articles [or comments]? Water off a duck's back. You have a cup of concrete and move on."

Where matters of the heart are concerned, however, he's the same soft-hearted Richie we saw last year. Perhaps no surprise, given his role models are his single mother and his sister.

"I've been raised by two beautiful women. They taught me you should always respect women. Going into this, [I know that] these girls are putting their hearts on the line."

WHAT The Bachelor

WHEN Ten, Wednesday, 7.30pm

0 comments