When Keira Maguire was invited to return to Bachelor In Paradise, her response was, “Hell no, I’m not doing that again!”
“When I went on the first season, I found someone and it really didn’t end up that nice – I wasn’t desperate for a repeat,” she explains.
And of course, there was also the chance this particular ex, Jarrod Woodgate, would wind up on the show too.
“I had anxiety about it,” Keira confesses to TV WEEK.
“I haven’t seen him since the break-up and we definitely don’t talk. It would be full-on, intense, overwhelming and uncomfortable for everyone.”
But when the 34-year-old started getting FOMO – and realised Jarrod, 35, had a new girlfriend – she changed her tune and two weeks later found herself in Fiji, where the guys were the least of Keira’s problems.
Very soon after arriving on the island, she clashes with Alisha Aitken-Radburn, 27, who Keira had accused of faking her relationship with Jules Bourne on the last season of BiP on an online recap of the show.
“Oh, my God, I can’t stand this chick!” exclaims Keira.
“I don’t even know why she’s there! A couple of weeks after I made the comment, she messages me to say that she’s really upset, that she liked me and that I was the reason she went on The Bachelor.
“I was like, ‘What do you want me to say? I’m sorry you feel that way, but I’m actually at a wedding and I don’t want to talk about this. Anyway, good luck!’ Then I blocked her on Instagram because she was really annoying. But I did it in a nice way!
“So when I came into Paradise, she was already bitching about me, twisting and turning the story, and making it out like I was this villain. She made it much more confusing and hectic than it needed to be.”
Keira sets her sights on Conor
From the start, Keira sets her sights on Tasmanian businessman Conor Canning, 29, who’s new to the franchise – a first for BiP.
“Obviously there weren’t enough Bachelor guys – or they just weren’t good enough! But he was the only one I felt who was genuinely looking for love, like me,” she laughs.
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