He was Australia's favourite Bachelor up until Wednesday night when public opinion started to wane for Channel Ten's latest Mr Nice Guy, Matty Johnson.
Seeing no irony in the fact he is dating over 14 women at once on national television – pashing five of them (so far) – he sat down two contestants, Leah Costa and Simone Ormesher, both 25, and took them to task for not being honest about their former work as topless entertainers.
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Bachelor backlash after reveal of stripper pasts
Viewers have accused The Bachelor of 'slut-shaming', after two of the show's contestants, Leah and Simone, were forced to defend their past work as topless entertainers.
A public backlash ensued with the Network in damage control trying to restrict the most vocal of the two, Costa, for what she says about the show, including to this reporter with Ten saying the result would be "too negative".
Someone who is only too familiar with what it's like to be judged for their profession in the sex industry is journalist-turned-Sydney escort, Samantha X, 43, real name Amanda Goff.
When she revealed her work in her best-selling autobiography in 2014, Hooked – Secrets of a High Class Escort, it turned into a media whirlwind, with some trying in vain to shame her into silence.
Since then she has gone on to be a regular in the spotlight, speaking about her profession in a bid to erase social stigma. As she gets ready to launch her second book, Back On Top, she had begun to believe the public accepted that women have full autonomy over their bodies – that is until she sat down to watch The Bachelor this week.
"What women do or don't do with their bodies is up to them. For The Bachelor to try and make a fool out of those women for the entertainment of others is deplorable slut-shaming," she said.
"It's about time Channel Ten stopped demoralising women, treating them as if they have committed a crime. All it does is feed the public's perception that this line of work makes women damaged goods, which is completely untrue."
![The Bachelor's Matty Johnson before he booted off Leah Costa this week.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170822120843im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/z/o/b/p/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxzpw6.png/1503111738310.jpg)
The public were quick to point out Ten's double standards in choosing Tim Robards and Blake Garvey as Australia's first two Bachelors, who were both former topless waiters, but did not have to defend their past, like a tearful Ormesher, while Costa described it as "degrading".
"It just reenforces the social stigma that it's OK for men but not for women, I have seen that in my line of work too," Goff added.
![Sydney escort, Amanda Goff, aka Samantha X.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170822120843im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/p/w/v/j/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxzpw6.png/1503111738310.jpg)
"Europeans and Americans are much more tolerant of the sex industry, it's about time Australians caught up too."
A spokesperson for production company Warner Bros defended the episode, saying: "Matty explained to Leah that he did not send her home based on her background, but because of her general behaviour with the other Bachelorettes, ensuing drama in the house, and because he could not see a future relationship developing between them."
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