The Bachelor Australia’s Nick Cummins has spoken out in a bid to defend himself following his shock decision to pick no winner in the show’s dramatic finale.
In the pre-recorded interview on the Sunday Project, Cummins appears tired and dejected following more than two weeks of backlash for his controversial decision.
“I consider myself a pretty upbeat energetic dude and then all of a sudden you just get the wind cut out of your sails,” he said.
“I’ve never been in a mental space as low as I have been on that show.”
Nick has defended himself on The Project saying the experience put him in a low mental state. (Image: Network Ten)
Cummins spoke about feeling troubled on the night before he was required to pick one of the final two girls, Britt and Sophie, saying he got no joy from any of his options.
The Honey Badger added that while he could have just picked one of the girls and avoided the drama, he didn’t want to lie and subject them to the inevitable scrutiny.
“She’d be sitting here now, and people would be asking ‘are you in love?’ it’s like, I don’t want to lie,” he said.
“I don’t want to put her through all that crap and because of all that pressure… I just can’t live live that and it’s not fair to her.”
Watch his interview in the video above!
Nick ‘Honey Badger’ Cummins caused a stir when he chose neither Brittany or Sophie in the grand finale. (Image: Network Ten)
The public reaction to Nick’s decision, which aired two weeks ago, wasn’t exactly friendly, with Cummins being the subject of debate on Twitter.
Then, following his first appearance on the Sunday Project, where he famously told Lisa Wilkinson that he’d buy the girls a drink if he ever saw them again, the reactions intensified.
One Twitter user wrote, “The interview confirms what we now know, the girls are the true heroes and Nick the ‘MoneyBagger’ banked a cheque.”
But Nick stood by his decision in his second Project interview last night saying, “I’d have to break her heart, imagine the story then. ‘You’re a jerk’, or ‘you’re an absolute jerk’. Which one do you want?”
It was clear the former Bachelor had been through the ringer, as the interview itself wasn’t filmed live due to Nick’s mental state.
The Project host Tommy Little told The Daily Mail that Cummins was so “nervous” that he was going to pull out of the interview altogether unless it was pre-recorded.
“Honestly he’s a beautiful man! It’s the most depressed he’s been. It was heartbreaking to see,” Little said.
He also said Nick had two assistants who supported him throughout the interview.
The Project host Tommy Little spoke out in defence of the Honey Badger. (Image: Network Ten)
A source also told the The Daily Mail that a crew member tried to level with the audience by saying, “‘We’ve all been in places where we’re not doing well.”
Needless to say, Nick was careful to stress the fact that he’d reached out to both Britt and Sophie following the finale to check they were okay.
“When the show finished filming, in that same week I contacted both those girls to see if they were both okay. It was bloody intense emotionally,” he said.
But in spite of it all, Nick says he does not regret going on the show.
“I learnt a lot about myself. I did question my decision. It was a moment of darkness and weakness where I thought I should have picked one of these awesome girls and avoided all the crap, and I snapped out of that and I said no.
“Be honest and be true to yourself, it’s best for her and it’s best for me.”
WATCH: Nick Cummins looking emotional during the Bachelor finale:
