He hasn’t even entered the mansion yet but Stu Laundy is already the name on the nation’s lips!
This week, The Bachelor Australia house is set to get a major shake-up when four intruders are dropped into the mix.
And if recent reports are anything to go by, Sophie Monk falls head-over-heels for the millionaire publican Stu Laundy.
“If they do get together they will be really good. They’re both really good, funny people,” an insider told the Sun Herald this week.
So, just who is this hotel-heir-turned-handsome-intruder?
Sources say Sophie is set to hit it off with intruder Stu on The Bachelorette!
He’s done reality TV before!
Earlier this year, the 44-year-old starred on the SBS show Filthy Rich and Homeless, which followed several high-profile Aussie identities living rough on the streets for ten days.
Alongside Christian Wilkins, Tim Guest, Kayla Fenech and Jellaine Dee, Stu was required to hand in his mobile phone and wallet, change into second-hand clothes and buddy up with a homeless person to sleep on the streets of Melbourne. After that, they were taken to stay in crisis accommodation.
Looking back on the experience, Stu says it changed him for the better.
“My kids are with my ex-wife and I get every second weekend. And in my down time without the kids I was just wandering. It’s lonely. Very lonely. For those years I was very lonely,” he told the Wentworth Courier.
“I can put it down to the homeless experience because I came out of that experience saying I wanted to change it up. I was pretty loose there for a while. I couldn’t be counted on. Essentially I’ve been on a pretty good path ever since the homeless thing.”
WATCH: Stu stars on Filthy Rich and Homeless, post continues below…
Stu (far right) appeared on SBS’ Filthy Rich and Homeless earlier this year.
He’s a father-of-four who might technically still be married
Like Sophie, Stu’s had his fair share of heartbreak.
In 2013, his marriage to wife Rachel ended but the exes still co-parent their four daughters together and share custody.
The pair are said to be in the final stages of their divorce settlement.
According to News Corp, the multi-millionaire had held off the divorce in the hope of reconciling with his wife.
He said: “I prefer being married absolutely. (Divorce) wasn’t my decision.”
“But any chance of reconciling is pretty-much over I would say.”
“I prefer being married absolutely,” Stu says of his split from Rachel.
He’s the heir of a multi-million dollar pub dynasty
Stu is the son of the successful pub baron Arthur Laundy and along with his brother, Liberal politician Craig, the siblings are the heirs to a rumoured $500 million fortune.
According to the Laundy Hotel’s website, the family “have been in the hotel industry for three generations. Arthur (Snr) and Veronica Laundy started the business in 1945 with the Sackville Hotel, Rozelle.”
“Moving to the west they purchased land at Bass Hill in 1962 and built the Twin Willows Hotel. Although it looks very different today, the Twin Willows is still the headquarters of the Laundy Enterprise.”
After Stu’s grandfather Aruthr Snr was killed in a light plane piloting accident, his father took over the business.
Stu’s father Arthur Laundy is a well-known publican who runs a successful string of hotels around NSW. (Image/YouTube)
The family run over 30 pubs in NSW including Watsons Bay Hotel, Woolwich Pier Hotel, Tea Gardens Hotel Motel, Off Broadway and Darling St Cellars.
Stu, who attended Sydney’s elite private school St Joseph’s College, has followed in his father’s footsteps and according to his LinkedIn profile, is the CEO of the Laundy Hotel Group.
The Bachelorette intruder hits back at the misconception he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and says he’s a “westie publican at heart.”
“Over the last few years we’ve done things which are extraordinarily extravagant. But deep down we’re still those westie publicans,” Stu has explained.
WATCH: Stu’s father Arthur talks about the power of pubs. Post continues below…
He nearly dated Sophie before!
Ahh, there’s nothing like a reality TV show to bring two acquaintances back together – just ask Matty J and Laura Byrne.
And as we all know, the Sydney social scene is a small circle and according to OK! magazine Stu and Soph met before being reconnected on The Bachelorette.
Stu has even admitted he once had a date lined-up with the one-time Bardot songstress before the show – but Soph bailed due to a hangover!
“Sophie cancelled at the last minute because she was hungover,” Stu recently told the Daily Telegraph.
“[Stu] wanted to keep a lid on the fact he knew Sophie, because he predicted things would get out of hand, and they did,” the spy revealed to OK!.
Understandably, this explosive nugget didn’t go down too well with the Bachelors.
“The guys were already annoyed [about the intruders] and the bombshell discovery just added to that.”
“Some guys thought they’d been wasting their time and contemplated walking out,” an insider said.
Stu and Sophie were set up on a date before reconnecting on the show but she cancelled because of a hangover!
He’s 100% Sophie’s type
Cast your mind back to Sophie’s ex-boyfriends. Stu is kind of a hybrid of them all!
He’s got the business acumen of her former French fiancée Jimmy Esebag, the rugged looks of actor Sam Worthington and the same interest in reality TV as rap mogul Russell Simmons.
As for his hobbies, his bio for Filthy Rich amd Homeless says “Stu enjoys a work hard, play hard lifestyle. When he’s not in the boardroom, he enjoys cruising around Sydney harbour aboard his luxury super yacht.”
Hmm, yachting about on a super yacht sounds like something we can definitely picture Soph doing!
Plus, he’s already a loving dad to four kids and the 37-year-old says she really wants to start a family.
The 44-year-old ticks all of Sophie’s boxes.
He insists he’s not a playboy but gave dating a good nudge
Despite being linked to Aussie stars like Laura Csortan, Sophie Falkiner and Stephanie Rice, Stu rejects down the playboy tag.
In June, he opened up to Sydney Confidential about the challenges of dating.
“I certainly haven’t dated like I was dating for Australia. The dating world has totally changed and it was a shock. But the timing was just that after the homeless experience I was also sick of that life. It was totally vacuous.”
“The whole mindset of dating has changed so much since I was a last single. It’s a different world now. The women are in charge,” he said.
“I go on dates and I’m struggling to pick up a bill.”
“The dating world has totally changed and it was a shock,” the reality star admits.
Stu does admit to saying yes to too many blind dates set up by mates.
“All my friends wanted me to hook up with someone. I never said no. Sometimes it was like Tinder. It was two or three dates a week. And I’d end up belting myself as I wasn’t that comfortable on the dates,” he confessed.
“It was this vicious cycle I was in for two years. My biggest regret was I didn’t say no. I just didn’t say no to drinking, to having a big night. I had mates who knew I was the single guy so they had it in their schedule to have drinks with me on a certain night plus I had the balcony at Kirribilli which was the party balcony. That balcony became renowned,” he said of his now-retired Bachelor pad in Sydney’s north.
