There’s no denying Nick “Honey Badger” Cummins is extremely close to his seven siblings and father.
This week on The Bachelor, the girls vying to win Nick’s heart will face their toughest challenge yet when they meet Nick’s dad Mark, sister Bernadette and brother Jacob in the hope of winning their seal of approval.
But one person who is noticeably absent from the family meet-up is Nick’s mum Debbie, who he’s been reluctant to speak about over the years.
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Dodging the topic of speaking about his mum in 2016, he merely explained her absence as a matter of needing “a bit of a break as she had a tough run looking after us nuisances”.
He went on to explain that his dad raised eight children alone, and hailed him as “Superman”.
“He’s had eight kids to look after and the stress of work, and yet he’s always still managed to do it with a smile on his face,” he said. “That’s pretty inspiring.”
Then Nick appeared in a segment that focused on his family on Seven’s Sunday Night, and again, his mum wasn’t mentioned.
Get to know Nick Cummins’ family here.
Nick is extremely close with his seven brothers and sisters.
But since then, the former Wallabies star and his mum appear to have grown closer, and last year, were pictured together at Christmas.
He even revealed Debbie wanted him to “find a nice sheila” ahead of filming. “Debbie just wants a nice girl for Nick. But she knows he’s a good judge of character, so she holds no concerns,” adds his aunt, Margie.
READ MORE: What happened to Nick Cummins’ mum?
Family has always come first for Nick – which may explain why the selfless star finds that talking about his mum is such a sensitive topic. In 2014, he quit his Aussie rugby career to move to Japan after a lucrative deal promised him better pay. The money would be used to help his father, who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer a year earlier, and siblings Elizabeth and Joe, who have cystic fibrosis.
“Family is number one. I think a lot of people, when they’re put in a certain position, will come to that conclusion and you’ll just do whatever,” he said.
He’ll do “whatever it takes” to help his dad.
Dad Mark – who was told he had “another couple of years” left in 2016 – added, “He felt the family came first. He feels he was put on this earth for a bigger purpose.”
So it’s little wonder Nick has turned to Debbie for strength and emotional support as his family continue to battle the toughest of times.
“These days, people struggle with the emotional stuff. Especially males,” he says.
