The winning couples from this season of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. Photos / Supplied
They seemed to have found love on a reality TV show, but Bachelor winner Annie Theis and Moses Mackay have gone their separate ways.
During tonight’s Bachelor and Bachelorette tell-all on TVNZ 2, it was revealed the couple couldn’t manage to make it work outside of the show.
However it wasn’t all bad news for Bachelorette fans, with Lexi Brown and Hamish Boyt revealing they are still very much together.
So what went wrong for our Bachelor couple? Was the pressure of the “real world” all too much to allow their new love to bloom? Or was the updated speedier Bachelor format a recipe for disaster?
Here’s where the Bachelor exes and Bachelorette couple stand now:
Moses Mackay and Annie Theis
For Mackay and Theis, their relationship status may have already been teased, with neither ever posting on social media about the other after the show concluded.
Speculation also went into overdrive when TVNZ 2 stopped tagging Theis in Instagram photos featuring all the women in the show, despite previously doing so, leading some to believe things had gone sour after filming had concluded.
While the chemistry between the Bachelor and the shows intruder was undeniable on screen, Mackay tonight shared the news that they are now “just friends”.
He also revealed they initially tried to make it work with Mackay flying to visit Theis and her family, before it all came to a halt.
Theis went on to share that, “being on the show really is a bubble” and suggested she was left asking the question “how do we do this in real life?”
Last week the Herald also revealed that concertgoers and fans of The Bachelor NZ were surprised when Moses Mackay’s Sol3 Mio bandmates appeared to spoil the reality dating show’s ending.
Speaking to the crowd in between songs at their Auckland concert, Pene Pati asked the crowd: “Do we have anyone here on a date? I’m going to wingman you right here, right now. No one?
And his bandmate went on to tease that Amitai Pati and Mackay were both single – signalling the bachelor was no longer with the contestant he chose.
“For the guys at home, they’re both single,” Pene said and pointed to Amitai Pati and Mackay.
Lexie Brown and Hamish Boyt
The Bachelorette couple fuelled speculation of a split, after their social media accounts were recently wiped of any evidence of them as a couple.
The show concluded in March, and the couple embarked on their relationship shortly after the show ended. Brown had to choose between Boyt and Australian bachelor Todd Dialectos.
During the tell-all special Brown however confirmed the pair are still together and have been spending their time fishing and travelling the country.
Brown even revealed the couple are planning a big move to Mount Maunganui together.
Speaking to the Herald after the season concluded, Brown said the couple were getting to know each other outside of the confines of the reality show.
“It’s a quite speedy time of growth in a situation like ours. You come off the show and you don’t really know each other,” Brown said the morning after the finale screened.
She also alluded to potential challenges of taking the relationship off-screen but was confident she could make it work with Boyt.
“You hear stories, and you can understand how people break up the day after the final rose ceremony because you really don’t know people. I reckon the first 24 hours can be really confronting possibly, depending on who you pick.”
And the show’s conclusion gave little reason to believe the pair wouldn’t stay together. Boyt impressed Brown’s family and her mum declared she loved Hamish during the home visits.
Mum’s approval clearly was key in helping their relationship flourish in the outside world.
Past breakups
It is not the first time the franchise’s couples have parted ways, in fact, there has been a lack of success for the couples who participated in the reality shows.
2019’s season of The Bachelorette saw Lesina Nakhid-Schuster walk away from the show without choosing anyone. However Lily McManus did find love with clothing designer Richie Boyens.
In 2017, Zac Franich and Viarni Bright announced they called it quits after six months together.
In 2016, then-Bachelor Jordan Mauger broke it off with contestant Fleur Verhoeven just 72 hours after she was named the show’s winner.
Art and Matilda Rice, the NZ franchise’s first couple remain together.
ncG1vNJzZmhqZGy7psPSmqmorZ6Zwamx1qippZxemLyue82erqxnkpawqbHLqKlmpqpir7OxwKSsqWWnnruvtc2gZJynpaW5pnnCqKWfoaKierS8y6KraA%3D%3D