Alex cut a deal with The Bachelor producers to make final five: reports
***SPOILER ALERT***
The Bachelor favourite Alex Nation struck a deal with the show’s producers to ensure she’d survive until the program’s final stages, according to reports.
New Idea claims that Ms Nation told producers she had to be guaranteed a spot in the final five to “make it worth her while”.
“She had told some friends that because she would be away from her son, she insisted the producers make it worth her while, and made a deal that she would make the final five,” the magazine quoted a source close to Alex’s ex-boyfriend as saying.
“So even if she didn’t win, it would help her profile and acting aspirations.”
Alex emerged as one of bachelor Richie’s favourite contestants in recent weeks, and made a strong play for more serious affection when she showed him photos of her child.
On Wednesday night’s episode, Alex will be one of the three remaining contestants vying for Richie’s love, alongside Nikki and Olena.
Last week, New Idea reported Alex had won The Bachelor but the story was rejected by Network Ten.
On Monday evening it emerged that both Alex and her ex-boyfriend had strongly denied some of the claims in the New Idea report.
‘He was blindsided when Alex dumped him’
According to a close friend quoted in New Idea, Alex’s ex-boyfriend Tom Barbour has been questioning whether he was dumped just so she could go on The Bachelor.
“They were happy and as far as he could see nothing had changed,” Mr Barbour’s friend said. “So he was really blindsided when Alex said she wanted it all to end.
“When Tom found out [about the alleged deal Alex made with The Bachelor producers], he began to question when and why she actually applied [for The Bachelor].”
The internal questioning and torment for Mr Barbour, who is living with a disability, is so bad that he escaped to Europe to avoid seeing Alex on The Bachelor.
Alex has previously stated Mr Barbour was the first person she had ever loved. The pair got together after Alex went through a divorce and Alex even renovated her house to accommodate Mr Barbour, who is in a wheelchair.
Mr Barbour fell nine metres while working on a construction site and severed his spine before he met Alex.
Story is ‘false, misleading and defamatory’
As the story made headlines on the internet on Monday, Mr Barbour took to social media to refute New Idea’s claims.
“This article is false, misleading and defamatory to both myself and Alex Nation,” Mr Barbour wrote on Facebook on Monday evening. “We separated amicably and remain great friends. She has always been there for me, supported me, just as I have her with her endeavours on The Bachelor Australia.”
Alex also took to Facebook to express her disdain for the story: