It’s become common place to discover that amongst every new crop of Bachelor and Bachelorette hopefuls there are a few who have had acting and or modelling experience.
But never have we had a legendary Home And Away River Boy hoping to receive a rose.
Much to our delight, we’ve discovered 30-year-old Bachelorette hopeful Shannon Karaka not only does some extra work as an actor, he’s appeared in our favourite fictional town, Summer Bay.
Bachelorette isn’t Shannon’s first TV appearance.
(Channel Ten)According to Shannon’s StarNow profile he’s “not an actor but have done some body double / extras work over the years which is always good fun.”
And, at the top of that list of past work is that of a River Boy on Home And Away.
While we’re yet to track down footage on screen, we can safely assume Shannon’s referring to the iconic opening episodes in 2108 whereby the River Boys returned to Summer Bay following the tragic death of Kat (Pia Miller).
The River Boys made quite the entrance in 2018.
(Channel Seven)Shannon credits his other appearances to All Black Body Double and Laka Laka music video. He also took out the title of Mr Polynesia Australia in 2017, an experience he described as “life-changing and humbling”.
Outside of acting, and his full-time role in sales, Shannon has his own shirt brand, Get Happy Co Shirts.
Creating bright and colourful printed shirts, the brand works to support mental health, so we’re hoping to see a few creations donned by Shannon throughout The Bachelorette season.
Shannon’s shirts are bright and cheery – just like him.
(Instagram)The New Zealand native instantly captured our Bachelorette’s attention this year with a memorable entrance performing the Haka, a ceremonial dance in Māori culture, despite a somewhat dodgy start with the conch shell.
Having been picked by country rose recipient Harry to go on the first double date of the season, Shannon could quickly become a favourite to win Becky’s heart.
What an entrance!
(Channel Ten)