Ahhh Mackane Reid… You’ve done it again!
We first met the Perth local, when he fell in love with Sophie Monk on The Bachelorette.
Showing he’s still the all-round nice guy, Mackane wore his heart on his sleeve for Bachelor in Paradise.
Just like nearly every bachelor, Mackane fell for Ali Oetjen’s spell.
Now off the island, the magic has well and truly warn off – with the presenter admitting he should have fought for Leah Costa instead.
Continue scrolling for our exclusive interview with BIP’s latest evictee Mackane Reid.
Mack was hoping to find love.
How did you feel when you didn’t receive a rose?
Pretty dejected but I think I saw it coming.
Did you think someone would pull through, particularly Leah?
There was 50% that wanted to stay. I had formed some really good friendships but by the looks of things no one was really interested in me.
Tell me about your feelings for Ali?
That was really hard especially when I put my heart on a platter for Ali and for it to not come back – that was bitter pill to swallow. Seeing her with someone else – it was tragic.
In the real world, when you get rejected you don’t have to see them again. You don’t have it thrust in your face. But on BIP you get rejected, it’s there for you to see.
It was hard to see her with Grant was hard.
Have you been in touch since the show’s wrapped up
No, we definitely haven’t.
There’s been a lot of chatter that Grant isn’t a great guy – you’ve met him, what are your thoughts?
I take people on face value.
I met Grant for the first time on this, and we didn’t get to talk too much.
On face value he seemed like a charming guy.
Both Ali and Leah caught Mack’s attention.
One of the most surprising moments from this season was seeing the resident nice guys – you and Jarrod – having beef ! Can you take me back to that argument
I didn’t expect that run-in.
It was pretty tough as Jarrod and I haven’t always seen eye-to-eye – especially back in the mansion.
That didn’t come out [back during Sophie Monk’s season]. It’s more that I don’t like conflict, I shy away from it.
When Jarrod suggested I dogged all the boys and the girls hated me for my decision to give Ali the rose – I knew I had to stick up for myself.
I got everyone’s blessing about my decision beforehand – including Jarrod’s!
I think he was just trying to create drama to be perfectly honest. I did say to him that I was giving my rose to Ali just before we walked through.
It wasn’t a shock.
We’ve cleared the air and our relationship has been stronger since!
Unlike the Bachelorette, viewers really got the chance to get to know you? Did you prefer BIP
I’m really glad that people got to see the real me. I put myself on the line and I guess it didn’t come back.
I’ve now been rejected by 2 girls on a national scale… for the viewing public.
It’s hard to watch.
Do you think your feeling escalated because of the environment? In the real world would you have fallen as hard as you did for Ali and Sophie Monk?
Probably not.
But when you’re in there- you don’t have female contact except for just Sophie.
And you see her, someone as beautiful as Sophie, everything is heightened.
In the real world I would’ve fallen for someone like Ali because she was genuinely interested in what I had to say.
Mackane with Sophie.
Before entering was there anyone you wanted get to know better in paradise?
I was looking forward to meeting Leah.
I know things can change on TV so I wanted to know if Leah was different to how she was portrayed on The Bachelor.
In reality, she’s not that “perceived villain”, she does have a few traits that are true but she’s lovely.
One positive from the show is my friendship with Leah. Even though there has been stuff said, I still love and adore her.
I also hoped to meet Cobie Frost.
Has there been any juicy goss that you’ve heard off from the show that we haven’t seen on air – sleepovers etc?
While I was there, everything seemed to be above board – from what I saw. I didn’t know of any sexual activity going on.
Do you think there was strategising to get a rose more than there was to find love?
I did and it was really strange. When I thought I was falling for Ali and even Leah – that was all I could think about.
It’s like a pressure cooker on the island and I feel like some people just wanted a rose.
But I was there to find love.
Did you hope to find love again?
I am not actively seeking a relationship but I’m open to it!
I’m fiercely independent but I’m a romantic at heart and would love to find that person.
If you could do all this again, what would you do differently?
I know this may be hard to understand but I probably wouldn’t have given my rose to Ali.
I probably would have given my rose to Leah. We were starting to get somewhere… There was a spark there.
If I had my time again I would have been more in check with my emotions.
What’s next for you?
I think I might not do reality TV but I’d love to focus on doing presenting for TV and online!
