‘The Bachelors Australia’: Felix, Jed and Thomas Reveal Their Favourite Things About One Another

January 5, 2023

the bachelors australia felix von hofe jed mcintosh thomas malucelli group 2023 — Network Ten

It’s been a long road to get here, but at long last, The Bachelors Australia and its summer of love is here.

Ahead of the show’s premiere, we caught up with Bachelors Felix Von Hofe, Jed McIntosh and Thomas Malucelli, and got them to explain how the revamped version of the long-running reality dating competition actually works.

“Basically, it’s a bit different,” Jed told The Latch over a video call.

the bachelors australia 2023 jed mcintosh — Network Ten

To kick off the season, each Bachelor embarked on a series of blind dates, offering roses to the women they felt a spark with. Along with the rose came an invitation to the brand new Bachelor mansion, located up on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

From there, Jed explained that everyone “came together at the house” but, even though the women may have been invited to the mansion by one Bachelor, it didn’t necessarily mean that they were stuck with them.

“There was definitely the option to switch if somebody felt the need to, on either end,” Jed said, adding that the new dynamic “is something that people will definitely tune in to and watch”.

He added: “I think it’s the perfect balance of still being the classic Bachelor but having it switched a bit to the point where it’s definitely interesting, and I think will definitely keep people on their toes for wanting to see … what happens next”.

With the more dynamic, revamped format, Felix said that he feels “like it’s a lot more representative of how dating and relationship progression works in the real world”.

the bachelors australia 2023 felix von hofe — Network Ten

“There’s no landing a helicopter on a yacht,” he explained. “We’ve got three very attainable men from the real world. You can run into me at any pub across the state — a tall, bearded man? There’s a lot of me going around!”

Rather than having the Bachelor “on a bit of a pedestal”, Felix said that the new season shows the men’s faults, as well.

“We weren’t perfect the whole time,” he said. “We stuck our foot in it occasionally, so you’ve gotta apologise and say ‘okay, maybe I shouldn’t have said that, maybe I shouldn’t have gone about it this way’, and I think some seasons in the past have missed that, a bit… There’s things that we all need to work on and it really puts that on show.”

Jed agreed, adding that he “felt a lot more comfortable” with the less linear format of the show.

“I think the concept of just expecting everyone to want to be with us as a given was something that — given the hearts we have and the men we are, thank goodness, we don’t expect that,” he said. “With the format… it’s not just up to me and it’s not just up to the two other boys, it’s up to the girls, too.”

He continued: “It didn’t feel misogynistic in any way. It was on an equal playing field. If someone likes you, cool, and if they don’t, they don’t, which is the reality of real life.”

Linear or not, though, Thomas said that being one of Australia’s Bachelors remained “a unique experience”.

the bachelors australia 2023 thomas malucelli — Network Ten

“Whenever will I be in the position when I’m dating 10 women again?” he said. “I found it very surreal but also interesting because, in normal life, you’re used to dating one person, so you find that one person and you really want to progress things.”

On the show, however, Thomas said that dating 10 women he could potentially fall in love with all at once was a little overwhelming.

“It was like ‘wow, I’ve got 10 girls here so I really want to give every single girl a chance and I really want them to get to know me’,” he said. “So it was like, going on these dates and then wrapping the experience in a bubble, kind of, and then going on another date and wrapping that experience within another bubble, and then you’ve got all these bubbles and you’re like ‘oh my gosh, there’s so much happening right here!’

“There’s no words to describe it, it’s just incredible,” he added.

As a self-confessed “hopeless romantic when it comes to these kinds of situations” though, Thomas is “excited to rewatch it, the unfolding of, dot dot dot,” he teased.

Throughout the chat, the Bachelors laugh and joke with one another, and clearly bonded by their shared experience — regardless of their respective romantic outcomes, the bromance is real.

Having lived together throughout filming, we wanted to know what each Bachelor’s favourite thing about the other two men was.

Jed credited Felix for his straightforward nature.

“He has a very simple way of unravelling my mind when I’m confused emotionally,” Jed said. “He says things that I’ll think about for 10 minutes in one sentence that will really help me out.”

the bachelors australia 2023 full cast — Network Ten

As for Thomas, it’s his patience that Jed appreciates the most.

“Tommy, he will listen — it takes me ages to say things sometimes but he understands the way that I converse, and he gives me a lot of empathy and patience, and allows me to repeat myself many times because he knows that’s how I will reach a point of peace,” Jed explained. “I think they both have read me in a way that allows me to feel free and protected and safe.”

Thomas said that Felix is “one of the funniest men” he’s ever met, and that he also admires his vocabulary.

“He is so articulate and just speaks so well,” Thomas said. “It was awesome having him on the show and he taught us quite a few things, obviously being in television himself, it was really great to see.”

As for Jed, Thomas said he loved “his creativity, and his heart”.

“He’s got just the most beautiful, giving heart,” Thomas said. “When I first met Jed, I was like ‘oh my God, here we go, this guy’s trouble!’ but he’s like, the opposite. I mean, he is a bad boy, but he’s the most loving man you’ll meet.”

Finally, Felix said that he felt quite a bond with Jed.

“I see a lot of myself in Jed — we’re very similar at different times,” he explained, adding: “I work in a media setting where you do sort of have to tone back a little bit, Jed works in the music industry… and it’s just, you just go nuts. I think I’d be the exact same if I worked in that environment. We’ve left here and he’s one of my closest friends.”

As for Thomas, Felix said that he appreciated the “life learnings” he’d taken on board from getting to know Thomas.

“The amount of times we’d sit and talk to Tommy like, ‘oh I’d love to go to New York’ and he’d be like ‘I lived there! I worked in a restaurant’ — you leave the conversation feeling like the most insecure piece of s**t, because Tommy’s done absolutely everything there is to do in life and he’s only 35,” Felix said. “So you know, I’ve just taken that sort of ‘just grab life by the horns’ energy, I think I do that a lot more now, for better or worse!”

The Bachelors Australia premieres on January 9, only on 10 and 10 Play on Demand.

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