Todd King was left “heartbroken” by Ali Oetjen in last night’s season finale of The Bachelorette Australia.
Ali chose to say goodbye to her knight in shining armour, and “risk it all” for Taite Radley.
Viewers were crushed by Ali and Todd’s brutal break-up scene, armed with the knowledge that Todd had a sparkling diamond ring in his pocket. But did he plan to propose to Ali?
“Yes it was an engagement ring,” he tells TV WEEK. “But I didn’t really have a plan, I was going to go in and feel it out and if the timing was right, I would have proposed.
“Watching it over, it’s like I’m in love again. It’s quite sad really because you relive the journey and all the feelings from the start,” Todd admits.
Todd admits that reliving the series has made it difficult to move on.
“What a bloody rollercoaster,” he says of watching the episode. “I cried watching it back, it brought back a lot of feelings that I didn’t really expect it to. So it was an emotional night.”
Todd admits the hardest thing has been keeping up the façade that he may have won the series.
“The hardest thing is I’ve had to convince my friends and family that either I’ve won, or I’m still in it, so I can’t show any emotions,” he reveals. “You can’t move on because you are keeping up appearances. So I’m looking forward to the next stage and getting over it all.”
Todd says goodbye to Ali Oetjen.
Though it appeared Todd held it together well during his farewell with Ali, he admits he was struggling to say goodbye.
“I was really struggling, I actually tried to slip out of the situation sooner than anyone anticipated and Ali kind of held on to me and said ‘I don’t want you to go yet.’ But she was really struggling with it and I just felt the need to be there for her,” he says.
When Ali said goodbye to Todd, she told him that although she could see a “perfect” life with him, there was “something missing.”
“I never did get clarity over exactly what that was,” Todd says. “But I 100% think it was that missing spark, which she had with Taite. It’s pretty clear we didn’t have it like they did.
“As much as it hurts to watch, I wish them all the best.”
Despite Todd’s heartbreak, he remains friends with his former Bach bud.
“I’ve spent a lot of time with Taite and spoken to him every day over the course of the show,” he says. “I haven’t spoken directly to Ali but she has sent me her best wishes.”
Ali chose Taite over Todd in an emotional finale.
As for fans calling for Todd to be the next star of The Bachelor Australia, he says the support is “overwhelming” but he needs some time before he’s ready to find love again.
“I think I’ll have to tip toe back in to [dating],” Todd says. “The last thing I want to do is jump in to something I’m not ready for and hurt someone else. So I won’t put myself forward again until I’m really ready.
“I never thought about [The Bachelor] until it started to gain a bit of traction, but I’m open to it,” says Todd.
“I’m not going to promise it – that I will put myself out there or be ready – but I’m willing to risk it for love.”
Will Todd King be the next Bachelor? We certainly hope so!
