Australia is still reeling from the shock series finale of this year’s Bachelor Australia and probably no one more than the show’s finalists.
25 year-old Sophie Tieman caught Nick Cummins’ attention from the very first cocktail party when she challenged him to a motor boat race in the pool, but was left heartbroken in last night’s episode when he announced that he did not reciprocate her feelings.
“I am not able with all my conscience to wholeheartedly commit to you right now,” he told her.
“At this point, at this time, our journey comes to an end.”
And just shortly after that, Nick told her fellow contestant Brittany Hockley the same thing!
In an exclusive chat with Now To Love, Sophie opens up about the power of women supporting women, the rumours that Nick would’ve picked Brooke if she hadn’t walked and what exactly was going through her head when Brittany walked into her hotel room.
READ OUR NEXT EXCLUSIVE CHAT: Brittany Hockley on Nick Cummins’ shock decision: “It’s a cop-out!”
Sophie opens up about her Bachelor experience.
What an explosive finale! What was it like re-watching it?
It was hard to be honest with you. I was lucky to have Brittany by my side but there were tears, there was laughter, there was anger, every emotion you could possibly imagine we felt in that last episode.
So you two had a Bachie viewing party together last night?
Oh of course! We’re absolutely inseparable. We were such good friends by the finale, and then ever since the finale was filmed we weren’t allowed to be catching up in the public eye but we have had secret sleepovers, we’ve had many wines just kind of trying to digest what the hell we’ve just been through.
You’ve been posting a lot on Instagram about women supporting women, you must have made some friends for life on the show.
Absolutely. I’m so glad that even though Australia unfortunately didn’t get a happy ending or an amazing love story, I think what everybody did get out of it is that women supporting women is so extremely powerful and if that’s something that we can take away from this, I feel on top of the world.
I feel like this season is different from any other season, it can be quite competitive and a little bit of a negative environment to be in, but this season, everyone toward the end was so kind to one another and so supportive and I’m just so glad that at the end of the day that was shown and Australia could see just how supportive we were of one another.
It’s all about women supporting women.
Going back to that final date, did you pick up that anything was off or something was different?
My last date with Nick was amazing, we had so much fun and it was the perfect day. However in saying that, that last scene where we were sitting around the campfire, I did feel like something was off.
I could tell that he hadn’t picked who he wanted to pick yet which shocked me. I thought maybe that he would’ve had somewhat of an idea and would have alluded to the fact that it was or wasn’t me but he didn’t. He was kind of just a little off in general and I remember going back to my place and thinking, ‘I wonder what the hell is going through his head, I genuinely think he’s got no idea who he’s going to be picking,’ which was a funny thought. I definitely thought he would’ve known by then, it’s funny now looking back.
READ MORE: 5 things we thought during the Bachelor finale.
Do you understand his decision or are you still confused?
Oh look I’m still confused. What you see is what you get so him telling me ‘Thanks but no thanks,’ and me turning around and walking away, that was the last time that Nick and I were together.
You’ve just spent three months waking up and going to sleep thinking about this guy and forming a great connection with him and now he just goes, ‘It’s been amazing but I can’t proceed with this,’ and at the drop of a hat, it’s all over.
It hurts, it really really hurts, you kind of just want to go, ‘Hang on but why?’ I feel like, yes he gave me a reason but in saying that, he didn’t at the same time, I walked away confused. I felt like he really wanted me to open up and put all my barriers down and I did that so I just wasn’t sure where I went wrong, what boxes weren’t I ticking for him because that would’ve given me some closure but I haven’t been able to find out.
“It hurts, it really really hurts.”
Have you spoken to Nick since New Caledonia?
Yeah, Nick’s reached out online and touched base asking how I’m going and making sure I’m ok. I’m aware that he’s done that with a couple of the other girls as well that made it a little further in the experience. So that was soon after filming had wrapped up but since then we haven’t touched base.
So did he reach out to Britt and Cass as well?
Yeah, Cass, Britt and I are so extremely close. We are honestly best friends and we’ve told one another when he’s reached out to us, what he said, how we feel about it but that’s kind of where it ends.
READ MORE: Cassandra Wood reveals she had a panic attack after Brittany Hockley confronted her.
“Cass, Britt and I are so extremely close.”
Lots of people are saying that if Brooke hadn’t walked, she would’ve won. But you and Britt have said there was a deleted scene when Nick told you both that you were his picks for final two. What happened then?
It honestly hurts to hear people say that Brittany and I were there by default because there was this moment and it’s unfortunate that it didn’t make it to air, but in saying that, we do a lot of filming and they can’t put everything out there. But I thought that this was something we should bring to light just to make sure everyone was aware that Brittany and I weren’t there by default.
Brooke had decided to leave and he came to us individually and assured us because he could tell that we were confused, we didn’t know what was going on and we thought, ‘Are we here my default?’ It went through our minds, the only person that knew that was Nick so he cleared it up for us, he told us ‘This is how I wanted it, you two were always going to be here in the finale’ and that was all I needed, I just needed him to say that. He had told me that on more than one occasion. So it hurts to see that Australia questions why I was there and why Brittany was there because our connection was real and we deserved to be there but yeah you just didn’t get to see it.
“Brittany and I weren’t there by default.”
When Brittany came to your hotel room after Nick had explained, what was going through your head?
I was asked by someone on set, ‘There’s someone here to see you, do you want to see them?’ I asked them who is it and they said ‘We can’t say, you just need to say whether you want to see them or not.’ I was like What is going on?
I said ‘Yeah, whatever,’ I wasn’t really in a state for a visit but I thought how much worse can the situation get. Turned around and I saw Brittany and so many things quickly went through my head. Firstly I thought, Is she really going to do this to me? Is she coming to apologise? Because I thought Nick had chosen her but as soon as she stepped into the doorway and I felt her presence, all of that went out the window. I didn’t care that she was with Nick or whatever. At the time I was just so happy to have her company and I’d missed her a lot as I hadn’t been able to see her for a little while so we just hugged and when she told me the outcome, I just froze. I felt empty, I didn’t know how to feel. I was shocked initially and then I did this awkward laugh because I just thought, Should I be happy? Does this make me feel better or does this just make me feel worse?
When you’re inundated with so many emotions you just kind of go numb. I think my face shows everything. Apparently I can do five thousand different facial expressions in a matter of a minute but that’s cool!
WATCH: The moment Sophie learns Nick picked no one.
Are there any future reality TV plans like Bachelor in Paradise or The Bachelorette?
Bachelor in Paradiseisn’t really my jam. I learned a lot about myself on The Bachelor and I really did enjoy the experience, but I think Bachelor in Paradise isn’t for me.
In terms of The Bachelorette, everything is so fresh at the moment so it’s kind of hard to comment. I did at the end of the day enjoy my time on The Bachelor so being the Bachelorette could be something I would consider but for now, I need to put all of that on the backburner and kind of enjoy having everyone know the way this ends and just be free again.
And are you seeing anyone at the moment?
No! I’m possibly one of the most eligible bachelorettes in Australia alongside Brittany as of today. I’m very much single and not dating however in saying that, I’m going to enjoy the single life for a little while but I’m still really ready to meet someone and have that happily ever after ending so sooner rather than later would be great but I’m not going to put any pressure on it at this moment in time.
We’re wishing you all the luck in the future Sophie!
