Richie Strahan and Alex Nation have made a real mess of their relationship.
In one of the Bachelor Australia’s worst kept secrets, the couple who fell in love last year on the Channel Ten dating show, seem to be smitten no more.
And it seems Rich has chucked a Blake Garvey, with his eyes set on sweet Bachelor runner-up Nikki Gogan .
Just last week, an insider told Woman’s Day that Richie and Alex actually called it quits six months ago.
“They were worried if they announced it their profiles would come falling down, so they decided to say nothing,” our source explained.
According to our insider, Alex felt neglected by Richie and was disappointed he didn’t make good on his promise to set up home in Melbourne.
“Alex felt like Richie was super-keen whenever there was a red-carpet event and photo opportunity, but she had to beg him for time on their own,” the pal shared.
And not holding back any punches, apparently bad chemistry in the bedroom didn’t help the situation either!
Alex and Richie ended things six months ago.
Ah reality TV romances!
Last week, Richie, who once cited to have the “biggest blue balls in Australia”, did his part to fuel that he was no longer holding any roses for Alex Nation.
During a chat with Confidential, the publication asked, “Have you split?”
“A downcast Strahan danced around the issue and refused to shut down speculation,” they reported.
Meanwhile, Alex failed to return their calls and the couple’s management, Chadwick Celebrity, advised they would not be comment on the pair’s “personal lives.”
Despite their whirlwind love on screen, Richie hasn’t shared a photo with the model since May 22.
Adding her fuel to the fire, Alex last shared a snap with her man on the Logies red carpet back in April – the last time they were publically spotted as a couple.
And the 25-year-old is a REGULAR poster on Instagram… We counted, it’s been 62 photos since we last saw Richie boy.
The reality stars, who found fame by sharing their “personal lives” with Australia, both seem to be doing just fine.
Alex has been making waves, with talks that she’s been dating the likes of Kris Smith.
Our insiders have shared that Richie, 32, seems to have found solace in golden girl and 2016 Bachelor runner-up, Nikki Gogan.
The WA real estate agent recently moved to Perth from Northam, which happens to be Richie’s home town.
The very first time Richie laid eyes on Nikki.
Adding fuel to the fire, Alex seems to be keeping Nikki on her radar. In a rare move, she’s recently started commenting on the real estate agent’s Instagram page.
We’re guessing the 29-year-old Perth beauty will be a class act if she takes things further with Richie.
Following the traumatising finale, we caught up with Nikki and she was taking the turn of events in her stride.
“There’s no doubt I was head over heels. I felt ALL THE FEELS! [Laughs] There was no question that I was definitely very loved up,” Nikki told us.
Alex has been commenting and liking Nikki’s social posts.
There’s no question what Nikki and Richie had was magic.
“I didn’t pigeon hole myself with a ‘type’. I never thought this type of guy existed. He blew my mind in what he is,” Nikki previously said.
Despite the heartbreak, the 30-year-old has nothing but love and admiration for Alex.
No matter what, we just want Nikki to have her fairytale!
“Alex is a beautiful girl,” she remarked.
“Even in the house, we respected each other enough to know that we were feeling serious feelings for Richie. We became close and bonded over other things other than Richie. We had real friendship bonds.”
“Even now, we’ve been keeping in touch. We genuinely want each other to be happy. We’ll always have this lifelong bond because no one has been through this, it’s just us!”
