Bachelor runner-up Rochelle tells all: "I was forgotten about."

We were hoping for a lynch mob, we got some polite chatter.

The Bachelor: After the Final Rose aired last night, and although we got to see a few of our favourites, not a whole lot happened.

Judi ‘first rose in Australia’ got to mention once again that she scored the first rose in Australia. She will now quit medicine to go on tour with her floral trophy. Magic sex dog girl and Penny’s epileptic cat also got a mention. Jolene was still drunk.

Ali was Disney Princess-polite and Anna and Tim were sickly sweet in love.

The best part of the night? Reject Rochelle – who basically told Tim he was a dick. Worst part? Making Rochelle sit front and centre while Anna and Tim snuggled on the couch talking to Osher and his glorious hair.

I spoke to Rochelle and Anna about their time in the house (you can read the first half here). But let’s be honest: all anyone really wants to read is how it feels to be the loser. So allow me to sum up winner Anna’s interview here: “Love love something something so much love Tim muscles.”

The juicy stuff came from runner-up Rochelle. She was pissed off (as much as the loser of a 13-week polygymous fight to the death can be), and she did not hold back. I’m kind of #TeamRochelle now. Have a read:

Rosie: Do you feel like Tim really strung you along?

Rochelle: Yeah I do. I really do. I had not educated myself on this program whatsoever. And I now wish that I had done that because I kind of felt like for some reason, if the person knows that it’s not somebody, then they can tell them so that person can get on with their lives. But the structure is a little bit different.

Tim explained that the reason he was feeling so intimate towards me the night before is because he knew he was going to say goodbye to me the next day.

Rosie: So he was making out with you ‘to say goodbye’? Do you think that was a good enough excuse?

Rochelle: That really upset me because I felt like he was being loving to me because it was me. So that obviously makes me feel like we weren’t on the level that I thought. There wasn’t enough respect towards me as what I hoped for. And he was obviously so fixated on this other person, that I was forgotten about. And that really hurt for me because he was my everything during the show.

Rosie: Do you think he was fixated on Anna for a lot longer than he says?

Rochelle: Oh yeah, absolutely.

Rosie: How long for?

Rochelle: Weeks. A long time.

Rosie: Watching the show, it seemed like he knew pretty early on.

Rochelle: Watching it is what proved it to me as well. To be honest, I didn’t know it was her. I was hoping it was me. I knew that there was one person, I just didn’t know which one it was.

And I was actually looking at Ali as a threat. But when I got to the later stages, I realised something was a it off, and I thought “it’s probably just me being negative.” But it turns out my subconscious knew what was going on.

But no, I don’t doubt for a second that there was enough time for him to know much earlier on.

Rosie: How does it feel to be the one who didn’t win? Is it embarrassing getting dumped like that?

Rochelle: For some reason it feels like there’s more emphasis on not getting the final rose. There’s no ‘second place’. It feels like you’re the main one that got dismissed.

But all these materialistic things – being on the show, getting expensive jewellery, going on amazing dates – it doesn’t make up for the fact that you’re getting so screwed over emotionally. You’re so hurt. And that’s all I ever wanted, above anything, above anything else on the show, was just to be in a relationship with him. I’ve said all my ‘thank yous’, but now I’m admitting how hurtful it was to leave at that point.

Rosie: Do you think he was mean to you sometimes? Like with the whole pageant thing? Why did he care so much? And he also seemed really funny when you admitted to having anxiety…

Rochelle: I think that for me, there is a couple of things that did hurt during the show. The fact that I was constantly prodded at for not opening up, yet I feel like one of the most open people in the program. I was constantly badgered to do more, more, more.

So I said I had anxiety and that I did pageants. And then they were like “Open up more!” But it was a bit awkward because I wasn’t getting the best outcome when I did open up.

The pageant thing’s just stupid I don’t know why that’s even a topic, I don’t actually even think about that at all.

The anxiety thing is actually really serious to me because it’s something that a lot of adults and young people do go through, and that is something that you do not open up about for no reason. But then that was kind of dismissed as well.

I think when someone doesn’t have any understanding of it, it’s hard for them to get into a heavy conversation about it. That’s all I can say. He was just sort of like “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but thank you.”

Awkiee momo… (laughs)

Rosie: Did it feel good last night getting to confront Tim?

Rochelle: I was put through the ringer. And that’s something that I said to Tim. How do you think I felt? And how do you think Anna would have reacted, if she was constantly out in the bottom two, put on eviction dates, told that she’s not doing this enough, not doing that enough… I was getting pushed so hard. And naturally I was reacting to that.

I know people don’t take it seriously because it’s a program, but I’m worried that I took it too seriously, because I went all out heart and soul with this. And it hurts, when a girl likes a guy that consumes her entirely, and when that’s thrown around like that… It plays with your mind heavily.

Oh this is a big thing to say… I want Tim to understand how much that has affected this cast. And I want him to

understand that it has hurt a lot of people. And even if it’s just me that’s going to say that, you need to know that being The Bachelor comes at a cost. It comes at the cost of a lot of people’s feelings. So I basically wanted to pass that onto him and say ‘it doesn’t come for free’.

Rosie: Do you think it was worth it though, for him and Anna to end up together?

Rochelle: Well, I didn’t realise how intensely in love they were. And it definitely gave me a lot of clarity when I saw it. And it kind of proved me right in a way. Because he was like “No, I had an open mind the whole time,” and I was like “You just told her that you were waiting to be with her the whole time.”

But they looked happy together and Anna’s a very good friend of mine. My loyalty is with her now, and she’s happy and I like to see that.

Rosie: Will you stay friends with her?

Rochelle: Yeah, I want to stay friends with Anna.

She’s been very good to me, and kept me in her life despite the awkward situation. And I like that we’ve kept that going. My loyalty is definitely just with her now. I don’t need to have anything more to do with Tim.

Missing my recaps already? (I’ve been sobbing in the foetal position for hours.) Here they are:

THE FINALE

Week 12

Week 11

Week 10

Week 9

Week 8

Week 7

Week 6

Week 5

Week 4

Week 3

Week 2

Week 1

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