Scandals, paradise and engagements: What the second runner-ups did after The Bachelor.

To catch up on all the Bachelor Australia 2019 recaps and gossip, check out Mamamia’s recaps and visit our Bachelor hub page.

This week, we will watch two women be whisked off to the South African jungle (prematurely, tbh, because I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! has not started filming).

The pair will be Bachelor Matt Agnew’s final two, before he picks just one to spend his life with or um, dump ASAP to get back with a previous contestant à la Blake Garvey.

But before we watch a unnecessarily long finale set in an unnecessarily far-flung place, Matt’s got to whittle down his remaining contestants from three to two on Wednesday’s episode.

Previous Bachelors have struggled with this: One sent home the woman he actually wanted to be with, a few broke Australia’s heart by rejecting our collective favourites and some… well, no, one in particular, didn’t actually get to send one of his top three home because one of the women excused herself from his disaster of a season early. You know who we’re talking about.

Since we’re about to have a new second runner-up, we took a trip down memory lane to find out what all the previous third placed bachelorettes are up to now.

Ali Oetjen.

Ali was 27 when she became Australia's first favourite bachelor/bachelorette and the country was shocked when her heart was broken by OG Bach Tim Robards.

Coming second runner-up behind eventual winner Anna Heinrich and runner-up Rochelle Emanuel-Smith, Ali took the dumping rather hard.

After the show though, Ali was approached to be Australia's first Bachelorette, but turned it down because she was in a relationship.

When her engagement to David Waldeck ended she made a comeback in the Bachelor franchise, appearing on Bachelor in Paradise in 2017 where she met... Grant Kemp.

Goodness... where do we begin?

Having instantly hit it off with the former Bachelor in Paradise US contestant, Ali and Grant left the show in a committed relationship, sealed with a lovely commitment ring.

But not long after the Bachelor in Paradise finale aired in May 2018, Grant ran to the media saying Ali had cheated on him after moving to LA to be with him. Yeah, that whole... stairs thing.

Ali put Grant behind her when she finally took on the role of Bachelorette in 2018 and after sending home a lot of duds (*cough* Charlie *cough* Bill *cough* the one who put a whole avocado in a blender *cough*), she gave Taite Radley her final rose.

 

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A post shared by ALI WELLNESS ???????? (@alioetjen) on Sep 15, 2019 at 3:40pm PDT

The couple now live in Melbourne and in August celebrated their one year anniversary.

According to Ali's Instagram, she's training to become a yoga teacher and personal trainer, oh and she also hosts wellness retreats. Of course.

Louise Pillidge.

Remember that whole Blake Garvey/Sam Frost/Louise Pillidge situation? We still have a bit of whiplash, tbh.

Louise was Blake's second runner-up in the second season of The Bachelor, but before the series finale aired he broke up with the woman he proposed to, Sam Frost, and got together with Louise.

"There is a beautiful love story here," Blake told The Project after the news broke. "I came into the whole experience looking for love. I have been so blessed to be able to find that."

Louise moved to Perth to be with the auctioneer, and for a time all was well. But by April of 2016, their heavily scrutinised relationship cracked (they even announced it with a breakup photo shoot in New Idea.)

 

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A post shared by Louise Pillidge (@louisepillidge) on Feb 2, 2019 at 12:08am PST

These days Louise is living back in Gold Coast and working as a marketing manager. Honestly, she keeps a pretty low profile on social media and only posts on Instagram sporadically.

Sarah Mackay.

 

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A post shared by Sarah Mackay (@ladysarahmackay) on Mar 21, 2018 at 1:51pm PDT

Sarah was the second runner-up on Sam Wood's season and by the looks of her Instagram page, Sarah is now busy living her best life full of health, fitness and travelling.

Olena Khamula.

Olena's Ukrainian professional-boxer father was the real winner of Richie Strahan's season of The Bachelor, even if his daughter was sent home before the finale.

 

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A post shared by ▪️Olena Khamula ▪️ (@olenakhamula) on Jan 14, 2019 at 12:14am PST

Not long after the show, Olena began dating Rodney Maroun and in January 2019 announced their engagement, saying her fiance was "truly the most incredible person I have ever met".

She's also still besties with fellow bachelorette Steph Dixon, who will be one of Olena's bridesmaids.

Tara Pavlovic.

Tara was the fan-favourite on the 2017 season of The Bachelor, breaking hearts when she was sent home by Matty J in the penultimate episode, before he eventually went on to choose Laura Byrne.

She then appeared on Bachelor In Paradise, which resulted in a short-lived engagement to Sam Cochrane - from Sophie Monk’s season of The Bachelorette - who proposed to her on the final episode.

However, the couple split in a highly-publicised and messy breakup just months after the proposal aired.

But over the weekend Tara announced her engagement to partner Nick Shepherdson. The pair knew each other for 10 years before they pursued a romantic relationship, going public as a couple last August.

 

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A post shared by tarapavlovic (@tarapavlovic) on Sep 15, 2019 at 1:12am PDT

"YESSS!!!! Yes yes yes yes Yes!!! Yes to a lifetime of love, laughs and happiness with you," Tara shared with her 200,000-plus Instagram followers.

"I love you SO bloody much. I can’t wait to marry you" she wrote, alongside an image of her smiling as she showed off her engagement ring.

Brooke Blurton.

Brooke had one of the most memorable Bachelor exits in history. The favourite to end up with the Honey Badger at the end of his season, she left him before the final episode.

When Mr Badger infamously chose no one in the Bachelor finale last year, everyone promptly assumed that obviously that was because he was actually in love with Brooke, who left the mansion on her own accord when in the top three.

At the time we were SHOOK, but during her appearance on Bachelor In Paradise months later, Brooke explained her reasoning:

"My last date with Nick we were on like a motorbike. I definitely thought there was chemistry there and we felt something good and I thought maybe I would be that girl at the end," she started, explaining that Nick then stopped the cameras and smothered his microphone so he could warn her of his decision.

"He told me not to tell anyone and I’ve protected him for that reason," she said. "He pretty much just broke my heart and made me feel like I had to keep it a secret."

"I couldn’t tell the other girls and I thought that was really sh*t. I don’t regret the decision to leave, I don’t want to be with someone who’s not committed. I’m not going to waste my time."

 

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A post shared by Brooke Blurton (@brooke.blurton) on May 12, 2019 at 4:39pm PDT

After her relationship with Alex Nation didn't work out in Paradise, Brooke once again left the show on her own terms and is now happily in a relationship with fellow Perth local Nick Power.

In August, Brooke told Mamamia she doesn't think she'll ever fully shed her 'Bachelor' image, but it's important to her that she uses her platform to support causes she cares about.

“I think I’ll always have that affiliation with The Bachelor, because that’s how people got to know me, but I think I support causes that are really important and use my profile to showcase what’s important to me and what I think people should know," she said.

As we enter the final week of The Bachelor Australia season seven, will it be Chelsie, Helena or Abbie joining this exclusive second runner-up club? We'll find out on Wednesday night.