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Nick ‘The Honey Badger’ Cummins confirmed as the next Bachelor

Rugby player Nick ‘The Honey Badger’ Cummins has been chosen as the next star of The Bachelor, with the sports star’s housemate confirming he will try his luck on the reality dating show.

Cummins’ housemate of a year and a half, a man named James, spoke to Nova’s Fitzy & Wippa show on Monday about the 30-year-old’s star turn on the Network Ten series and how he’s likely to cope with the cameras.

The Sydney-based Cummins has been single for more than 18 months after splitting with his girlfriend of five years, artist Martine Thomassen, and is a “very private dude”, according to James.

“[It’s] massive … For him to put himself out there on national TV with that kind of stuff is a big deal for him. It’s a bloke’s life, you know?” James told the radio hosts.

“Neither of us are any good with women,” James added, admitting he didn’t give his friend any advice because “we’d be going around in circles if we were talking to each other about birds”.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEKbPYNLZwL/?taken-by=ms_thomassen

Aside from playing rugby for Australia, James said Cummins enjoys doing “anything and everything besides life admin”.

“[He’s] very hygienic,” James said of some of Cummins’ defining qualities. “Hospital-style sterile, almost a germaphobe. Very, very clean.”

Cummins, who took his nickname from the animal he supposedly channels on the field, was unable to take part in the interview because he was “asleep on the lounge room floor [with] crook guts”, James explained.

“He’s useless with his phone,” James added, admitting he wasn’t even sure if he was allowed to talk to media about his friend’s new gig.

“I don’t know what I can say or can’t. He’ll probably hang me,” James joked. “Some of the s–t that comes out of our mouths – there’s nothing planned or programmed.”

James said his friend hadn’t had much luck with women and was more popular with men: “You’d think he was batting for the other team the amount of blokes that hit on him.”

Asked about what type of woman Cummins usually goes for, James was blunt.

“Two legs, two arms,” he said. “It’s more personality-based, we both get bored pretty easy with that [physical] stuff, so they’ve gotta have some spice to them. They’ve just gotta be able to talk s–t and understand us.”

James was unable to confirm whether Cummins had started filming for the popular reality show, which last year saw advertising manager Matty Johnson find love with jewellery designer Laura Byrne.

However, the former Wallaby and Australian Sevens squad member is a television regular, having fronted campaigns for Tradie Workwear underwear, Head & Shoulders shampoo, Iron Jack beer and Tourism Australia.

Ten’s choice of a public figure like Cummins is not a surprise given the ratings success the network had with the 2017 season of The Bachelorette, in which celebrity Sophie Monk found love with millionaire Stu Laundy. The couple announced their split earlier this year.

Although semi-retired since 2016, Cummins remains a cult figure in the sporting world thanks to his larrikin personality and all-Aussie persona. In 2015, he even released his own book – a collection of short stories titled Tales of the Honey Badger.

Channel Ten has been contacted for comment.

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