The 'relationship contract' Sophie and Stu may or may not have signed after Bachelorette.

Excuse me, but I have some more thoughts on the ‘Stuphie’ saga and I’ll be damned if you don’t let me share them.

It has now been 10 days since the couple (????) have posted on social media which is equal to approximately 14 dog years and two actual years in, well, real life.

So what’s the deal, Stuphie? Long distance keeping them apart? Break-ups keeping them apart? Did Stu’s spiky hair fall horizontal and force space between them?

Given Stu has a gazillion dollars in his pockets and planes fly from Sydney to the Gold Coast about every half hour, I’m going to hazard a guess that distance isn’t the problem. So then we’re left with a) the hair thing, or b) the break-up thing.

According to The Daily Mail, it could well be b) the break up thing.

An ‘insider’ told the news outlet the duo were contractually obligated to keep up appearances until the Melbourne Cup. The Melbourne Cup was on November 7. Sophie and Stu’s last public post was November 8.

So how much can we consider rumour to be real?

There are a couple of things to consider.

Firstly, it should be said Stu Laundy – not unlike contestants who have come before him – created an Instagram account for the show. A public one, if you will. (He has a private one that Mamamia managed to stumble on which I would brag about if it wasn’t so… easy.) He has not posted a single thing, on the account dedicated to his very public relationship, since October 30. Given the sole purpose of that account is to post about the girlfriend he met on the show, it’s curious it has suddenly gone silent.

Secondly, if you’re going to use Blake Garvey and Sam Frost as an example – who very much did not wait for the finale to air before breaking up, nor did they seem to be locked in a contract forcing them to stay together – I’ll stop you there. Season Two of The Bachelor was a PR disaster for the network, and not putting checks and balances in place to avoid the saga that ensued was something they’ve no doubt since corrected.

A post shared by Stu Laundy (@stulaundy44) on Oct 29, 2017 at 2:38am PDT

Of course, we should also consider the fact past contestants have denied any contract exists.

Talking to Mamamia in January this year, Georgia Love said, “A big thing that came out that really annoyed me, actually, was the reports that Sam and Sasha announced their split after 18 months together because they were contracted to stay together for 18 months.

“I don’t know what contract they had, but I’m pretty sure it would be the same as mine… and there was no contractual obligation whatsoever to stay together for two minutes after the show, let alone for 18 months.

“So, for the record, there are no contractual obligations.”

However, let me throw a tiny little spanner back in the equation: It’s all well and good to not be contractually obliged to stay together when you’re actually still together.

But when you reportedly split before the finale’s even aired? Ahem. Perhaps a contractual agreement is the best result for PR on behalf of all parties.

Just a thought.

The Stuphie plot thickens.

Listen: Why we have the right to speculate about Sophie and Stu’s relationship status…