He may have rubbed viewers up the wrong way last week after questioning Sophie Monk’s reasons for being on The Bachelorette Australia.
But behind the cameras, New Zealand-born construction foreman Ryan is anything but confrontational.
Chatting to TV WEEK, the 26-year-old reveals it was his late mother Shelly who inspired his journey to find true love.
She’s also the reason he’s taking the show so seriously.
“My parents had such a beautiful relationship,” he explains. “We didn’t have much when we were growing up. But looking back, they didn’t need anything else as long as they had each other.”
Ryan lost his beloved mum to brain cancer just seven years ago.
“I was only 19,” he recalls.
“It hit me and my family like a ton of bricks. When we found out [she was sick]… there’s no rulebook on how to handle it or prepare. You never expect it’s going to happen to you.”
Ryan says he’s still dealing with his grief.
“I just put a smile on my face and walked around like nothing was going on,” he says.
He confesses that, looking back, it probably wasn’t the right thing to do.
“It’s still hard for me to open up,” Ryan admits. “I’m getting better – I’m trying to work on it, as it’s affected my relationships.
“I’m trying to talk about my feelings and not worry so much about what people will think of me.”
Ryan knows Shelly would have understood his decision to join a TV show to try to meet that special someone.
“She was such a beautiful lady,” he says.
“If I’d told her The Bachelorette was what I wanted to do, she’d have supported me like she would have with anything else.
“Mum just wanted me to be happy.”
