There’s no denying that Charlie Newling came in to The Bachelorette Australia with all guns blazing. He scored the first one-on-one date with Ali Oetjen, and since then he’s been quite competitive with the rest of the men in the mansion.
He’s had an ongoing feud with Bill Goldsmith, a spat with Nathan Favro, and now he’s having a crack at Ali herself.
Tonight, Charlie took things up a notch by giving Ali a lecture on why she, The Bachelorette, is not doing the right thing on The Bachelorette. Yes, it was quite a scene…
Ali and Todd returned from their first one-on-one date looking absolutely smitten with one another. Charlie was irritated by Ali’s decision to give a single date to Todd, even though he hadn’t been on one yet.
“I’m going to be brutally honest here, she needs to get this right. At this stage she needs to be fully invested in at least two people,” he told a confused looking Todd.
“And with such little time left for her not to be investing solitude time with people, I can guarantee she’s going to make the wrong decision again,” Charlie continued.
Charlie then announced to the boys that he would have to talk to Ali because “it’s concerning” that she is spending one-on-one time with the other men in the mansion.
About the drama, Todd told the cameras: “In Charlie’s mind because he got that first single date, he thinks it gives him the right to speak on Ali’s behalf. I just don’t understand what gives him that sense of entitlement.
“He’s like a jealous boyfriend. He can’t handle the fact that he might not be the one for her.”
Todd isn’t the only one to comment on Charlie’s approach to the situation, with the recently eliminated Robert Colangelo saying it was “too much” at times.
“Charlie needed to just focus on himself and not worry about anyone else,” Robert tells TV WEEK.
“It was just too much. You know what I mean? We’re all adults, Ali is an adult, we can all formulate our own opinions, we don’t need him to tell us who the good guy is and who the bad guy is. We can work it out for ourselves. And not everyone is bad just because you say they’re bad,” he says.
“I think Charlie’s behaviour [in the episode] is consistent with how Charlie has been the whole time,” Robert continues. “I think he just wants to be in control and I don’t know if he’s quite comfortable when he’s at the mercy of somebody else. I didn’t really speak to him about it in the house, but it seems to me he is just struggling with the control factor.”
Meanwhile, Bill says he also finds Charlie to be ‘controlling.’
“Charlie is very controlling,” says Bill. “I wouldn’t want to date him.”
The mechanical plumber also thinks it’s rich Charlie has said Bill is “hiding something” after it was recently revealed Charlie had a child from a former relationship.
“That’s what someone who’s hiding something does: accuses someone else of the same thing,” Bill says.
“None of the boys knew, and I can’t imagine it’ll sit too well with Ali.”
Bill adds that Charlie’s reaction to the dates was very telling.
“He was very jealous, and every time someone came back from a single date, he wouldn’t speak to them for, like, a week.”
“Charlie is an alpha male − to him, only his opinion counts. In the end, he was almost trying to father Ali and act like her spokesperson.”
The Bachelorette Australia airs Wednesday and Thursday, 7:30pm, on Network 10.
