We first met Nikki Gogan when she was a contestant on Richie Strahan’s season of The Bachelor.
She was the fan favourite, a down-to-earth, girl-next-door who seemed out of place on the reality TV dating show.
Then Australia watched on as Nikki fell in love with Richie, while he fell in love with Alex Nation, ultimately leaving Nikki heartbroken.
Now Nikki has spoken to Popsugar’s POPCAST: Life After Reality TV, about life after Richie and The Bachelor.
Nikki told host Tim Dormer she consciously made the decision to be herself on the show.
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The Perth real estate agent wanted the bachelor, who ended up being Richie, to meet the real her.
“If we did end up together, if we fell in love and we were together, then I was very conscious of the fact the actual filming of the show was only three months maximum,” she told Tim.
“And so if you’re going to be with someone it’s forever after that, you can’t have someone fall in love with you… and it’s not you.”
Looking back, Nikki believes things would have worked out differently if she hadn’t shown so much of herself.
“Sometimes I reflect back and I think if I played the game better or if I’d played the game, it might have been different.
“Maybe if I wasn’t so open and honest and if there was [more of a mystery about it] then… perhaps.”
Despite this, the 30-year-old told the podcast she immediately moved on once the show stopped filming.
“I loved him, he didn’t love me, that’s fine. That happens in real life all the time, where people fall in love and it’s not reciprocated,” she explained.
