They say a gentleman never kisses and tells, and that’s exactly how vineyard manager Jarrod Woodgate, who scored the first single date – and kiss! – with Sophie Monk, is playing his cards.
And hey, it’s not a bad plan when all the other guys have slapped a target on your back…
Yep, as the jealous boys in the mansion strategise on how to win back Sophie’s attention from a bloke they reckon “doesn’t deserve it”, Jarrod’s got his eye on the prize, revealing to NW he’s made a secret pact with the Bachelorette to keep their relationship private.
“Sophie and I had an agreement that we weren’t going to kiss and tell,” he reveals.
“I said we’d keep it a secret to this day – no one in that house would know until they watched the episode.”
To this day, huh? We grill Jarrod for all the goss on their first date – and his plans for their future.
Jarrod crushed the competition for the first date.
You knew the way to Sophie’s heart with your grape crushing on the red carpet.
Sophie was over the moon about the grape crushing from what I’ve heard…
Sophie’s favourite movie Pretty Woman has grape crushing in it and I looked up that she’s always wanted to do it. It was a beautiful moment.
Were you gutted you didn’t get the Double Delight rose?
Yeah, I had my heart and hopes high for getting the rose Sam got, but you know he jumped in the pool and got half-naked. If you’re gonna be weird…
But you scored the first date, so that’s a bonus!
Yeah, having a first date with Sophie was amazing. I was over the moon because I did not expect my name to be called out…
There was a bit of jealousy over that date card, you know?
Now I went to the house and told myself, “Don’t let other people stomp on your because you’re stressed – just be you, be true to yourself and focus on Sophie and that’s what you’re there for.”
I’m not there to cause drama or get involved in any drama. Now, if it kicked off, I would’ve told the guys what I thought of them.
Jarrod stole a kiss from Sophie.
Well there’s a lot to be jealous of – that kiss for starters!
The first moment when Sophie and I kissed, that was so cool. I was a kid in a candy store, like, I just thought, “Oh my God – all your dreams just came true.” You get the first date and the first kiss and I feel very nervous… I think the second kiss we had, I felt more into it.
And you didn’t tell any of the boys about it?
I still haven’t told anyone about the kiss in the house. No-one.
Why did you choose not to tell them?
Sophie and I had an agreement that we weren’t going to kiss and tell – we said that I’d keep it a secret to this day. No-one in that house knows.
To this day, hmmm… Sounds like you’re saying you’re still in contact with Soph. So you didn’t tell a soul about the kiss?
No, I kept my word.
I’m not ruining a moment I had with Sophie for a bunch of boys that I just met.
Sophie mentioned she kissed a lot of the lads during the series – did they also keep it private?
Nah, they were pretty open.
Jarrod and Sophie shared a romantic moment.
Sounds like what you two have is pretty special…
Exactly, it’s a little shine in life that I need. Rather than, you know, she’s got a lot of guys to meet and get to know. So as to how she is feeling, you can’t really ask her that. You get the right vibe and eye contact and over time, you learn more about Sophie and you learn to read her…
Surely seeing her with the other guys after your single date must’ve stung?
You can’t get jealous of that; you just can’t let that bother you. You just gotta focus on the next thing you want to talk to Sophie about that will make her remember you.
So you’re working on your next move, huh. Is that hard to keep coming up with new ideas?
It does get challenging, but you need to take as much info as you possibly can from Sophie and just let the other boys or kids – whatever they are – do what they do. I basically told Sophie to stay true to herself and I’ll stay true to myself – that’s all I can do.
So Jarrod, you’ve been engaged before – is that right?
Yeah, my ex was about seven years older than me. I had just joined the army, I was young and being engaged to a girl who had an eight year old would make it harder at times. I’ve made a lot of mistakes – getting engaged to start with. But without these regrets, I wouldn’t learn from them.
