Fans of Bachelor in Paradise wiped away happy tears during the final commitment ceremony when we all bore witness to Alisha Aitken Radburn and Glenn Smith declaring their love for each other.
Nine months on from that romantic declaration in Fiji, Alisha, 27, and Glenn, 32, are still loved-up and have also shacked up with one another in Glenn’s home town of Perth.
But as it turns out, the decision to up and move cross-country wasn’t made lightly between the pair – in fact, it was more a case of extreme circumstance which accelerated things – but alls well that ends well in the case of these two.
With the show done and dusted, the couple are now excited to share their love with the world and do all the normal things couples do but before they could reveal their happy news to the world Alisha and Glenn had to be a little bit sneaky and creative.
In an exclusive chat with WHO the morning after the season three finale, Alisha and Glenn chatted to us about the next stage in their relationship, what prompted Alisha to pack up and move to the other side of the country and the sweet way they found out how their co-stars Mary Viturino and Conor Canning were living together.
Alisha and Glenn opened up about the clincher that ultimately decided their fate this year.
(Instagram)Congratulations guys! How did it feel to watch that finale back?
Glenn: I think watching it back last night just transported us back. Sitting there on the couch with friends and family and having all those emotions again was incredible.
Alisha: It was so fun. We were sitting on the couch just before the finale aired and I was like ‘I can’t believe that in a couple of hours if I want to take a picture of you and put it on my Instagram I can!’
Speaking of Instagram, your video montage was very cute!
Alisha: I worked on it for like three months and then we had technical difficulties last night and I was freaking out. Of course Glenn was talking me down and saying ‘It’s ok we’ll figure it out’.
Alisha and Glenn happily announced they were still together following the show’s finale in August.
(Instagram)Nine months is a long time to keep a relationship secret. Did you guys have code names or something to throw people off the scent?
Glenn: I was told to change the name in your phone because if your phone’s buzzing all the time people will see Alisha Aitken Radburn come up so I thought of the code name ‘You’re going to be Bonnie and I’m going to be Clyde’ and to this day she’s Bonnie in my phone.
Alisha: Sometimes he’d put me in a group chat or they’d put me in a group chat and they’d see that the name was Bonnie.
It’s so great that you can be open about your relationship in public but is there anything you’re going to miss now that it’s all out in the open?
Alisha: I think it’s definitely a new thing for us. The Instagram stuff is pretty overwhelming and going on one of these shows brings scrutiny I guess so that’s new for us.
Glenn: Having people recognise you and that, I think it’s going to be very new for me especially. I think that will take time adjusting but I know that in a couple of months’ time it will all be forgotten about and we’re just going to go back to our normal lives.
The couple have been dating for nine months and counting.
(Instagram)Will you guys be watching this season of The Bachelor with Perth boy Locky?
Alisha: Absolutely, I’m going to be doing a recap podcast with Osher so that’s going to be exciting because you’ve got the two flavours. Osher’s obviously hosted so many seasons and it’ll be interesting for people to hear a perspective on red carpet night or getting one-on-one time from someone who’s done that.
Glenn: All the good things are coming out of Perth.
Speaking of, what prompted the big move to Perth?
Glenn: It definitely wasn’t in the plan. We’d talked about and we were going to do long-distance in 2020 because I have my business in Perth and Alisha was doing things in Sydney but it really became crunch-time when corona happened and the borders were shutting. We just made the decision for Alisha to come over to Perth three days before the WA borders shut for good.
Alisha: I packed two suitcases and I reckon those two suitcases of clothes got me through two or three months. I was still paying rent in Sydney and my girlfriend packed my car full of pretty much the rest of our unit and helped me get it shipped over and it arrived maybe a month ago. I’m a full Western Australian now!
And what’s it been like living with Glenn’s brother and his boyfriend?
Glenn: It’s honestly a happy household – Alisha and Marty get along like a house on fire. Me and Neil are so happy our partners get along.
Alisha: We’ve been watching a lot of Rupaul’s Drag Race!
Twins Glenn and Neil are living together with their respective partners.
(Instagram)You had quite an experience last time you were on Bachelor in Paradise, Alisha. What motivated you to come back?
Alisha: I think it started with being asked back again so that was a surprise. I got the call and was like ‘Ok this is a possibility.’ I was a bit 50/50, not because I was nervous about the love element. I really love The Bachelor and I’m obsessed with the show and even though it wasn’t a great experience for me in the end, I knew that it was legitimate and you can actually develop real feelings for people in that environment.
I was a little bit nervous from the career perspective because I knew this would be coming up to my third show and I was a bit nervous that people wouldn’t take me seriously. But it’s part of my personality and I think people can be multi-faceted – you can be really passionate about whatever your career is and also enjoy your reality TV! I’m so glad that I went back again, I’m happier than I’ve ever been.
When we first met in Paradise I saw a lot of commentary particularly from the super fans who were saying ‘They definitely know each other and pre-gamed this,’ and we genuinely had not even exchanged a DM. I called him bloody Greg!
Alisha and her former Paradise fling Jules.
(Network Ten)One of the biggest talking points this season was the great display of female friendships. Alisha, are you glad the show focused on that rather than pitting women against one another for a man?
Alisha: Totally, I think that’s one of the best aspects of Paradise. In the real world you’ll go for a date with a dude and then you’ll go have a wine night with your girlfriends and debrief and it’s the same thing in Paradise but you just have to walk across the pool. I value those friendships and I’ve collected them across all three shows that I’ve done. I’m so proud of Renee – there’s absolutely no way in hell that I could be in an environment with my ex-boyfriend of a few weeks. I think a lot of people were watching thinking ‘How is she doing this?’ but she was so composed and mature and I’m really glad that she was able to carve her own path in Paradise as well.
Glenn, you were in the same season of The Bachelorette as Ciarran and Timm who became the villains of this season. Did you see that side of them in the mansion?
Glenn: They were exactly the same guys in the mansion as they were in Paradise. There’s a lot of emotion all the time in Paradise where they’re interacting with other cast members while being filmed unlike on The Bachelorette. I think those boys did get caught out a bit – they were riding high on their fame from The Bachelorette and maybe they regret some of their actions that were portrayed in Paradise. They were riding high off that but I don’t think anyone saw me on the show!
Glenn admits that Paradise had “a lot of emotion” compared to The Bachelorette.
(Instagram)Do you guys stay in contact with anyone from Paradise?
Glenn: Alisha’s obviously in contact with Renee daily – they’re very good friends and we FaceTime all the time and caught up with them at New Year’s. We’ve talked to Jamie, Niranga and Conor and Mary. That was an amazing call – we called Mary on FaceTime and she came on and then out of nowhere Conor’s sat there next to her. We were blown away that she’d moved to Tasmania- we went wild! They are the cutest, most amazing couple.
In just three months you’ll be celebrating a year together. Do you have any anniversary plans?
Alisha: Glenn, get your thinking cap on!
Glenn: It’s just weird to think in three months’ time it will be a year! It’s really going to creep up on us so no plans of yet but we’ve got a few months to look forward to that.
What’s next for you two? Are there any plans for the future?
Glenn: No concrete plans. As soon as the borders open we’ll be on the first plane over to the east to meet some family and friends but we’re just going to keep hanging out and going out with friends and family.
I think that’s going to be the enjoyable part of our relationship, not hiding it and being able to go out for dinner and drinks and not turn down invites like we have been.
This article originally appeared on our sister site, WHO.
