Apollo Jackson on his decision to walk out of Paradise: “It was crazy!”

Apollo Jackson might be the most humble and down-to-earth contestants on Bachelor In Paradise but his arrival on the island was more disruptive than Hurricane Florence.

As one of the most desired males on the show, it all became too much for the magician and on Monday night’s episode, Apollo finally reached boiling point and left with Simone Ormesher to give things a go in the real world.

But sadly, their romance failed to create any magic and the pair are no longer together.

In this exclusive exit chat, the 25-year-old talks to us about why it didn’t work out with Simone, what it feels like to be fought over and his very intense time in Paradise.

Tonight’s episode sees you in the middle of a lot of conflict, what was that like?

Oh my God it was crazy! I think you can tell that I really don’t like drama.

I came in and there were two really awesome girls that liked me and I just wanted to get to know them both but be respectful about it. Things just came to a climax on tonight’s episode and I was really worried about everyone’s feelings.

Obviously both girls were feeling pretty emotional as well, I’d made my decision but I was really conscious of Elora’s feelings.

Ironically it all goes up in flames. How did you feel when Elora Murger pulled you aside to do the fire-twirling?

Osher said to us it was the final few weeks of Paradise and from my point of view, I just thought it would be great to put on a show and just celebrate with everyone.

It wasn’t like it was this intimate fire-twirling session, everyone came down… that’s the way that I saw it, I didn’t see it as a romantic thing.

You decide to leave the island with Simone so you can try and make a go of things in the real world, talk us through that decision?

I took her aside after the rose ceremony and I was quite overwhelmed by all the drama.

I said to her obviously I want to see if things will work on the outside world.

It obviously upset Simone and you two had a fight about it, how do feel now looking back on that disagreement?

I don’t know… For me, it wasn’t a romantic thing. I just said to Simone, you know I do travel a lot for work and I work with female performers and that sort of thing, that’s what that brought up for me.

In my head I was like, I travel full-time with performers you’re going to have to trust me!

After seeing that possessive side of Simone, was that a turn off?

Yeah… At the same time I could see where she was coming from. If you like a guy and you want to be spending time with them, you don’t want someone else who is attracted to them trying to spend time with them. I could totally understand it but from my point of view, Elora was just putting on a show for everyone in Paradise.

Where are you at now with Simone, are you guys still in touch?

We gave it our best shot in the real world but it just didn’t work out for us unfortunately. With her in Melbourne and I’m based in Sydney and the Gold Coast, it was just hard to align our schedules in between work.

There was absolutely nothing negative, we’re still friends but it just didn’t turn to anything romantically.

How did it pan out in the real world after you left Paradise?

We went on a few dates and hung out on the Gold Coast because her family’s up here but then she had to go back to Melbourne and that’s when we struggled to get that time to get to know each other more.

Are you still single now?

Yeah! I’m just focusing on family and career at the moment. I’ve come off The Bachelorette and Bachelor In Paradise and just cruising.

What about Elora, are you in touch her now?

When the show was airing, everyone kept in touch with everyone.

A lot of ladies liked you and fought over you, does it feel strange watching some of those scenes back now and seeing just how popular you were?

They’re all lovely girls and to see that is really nice and humbling. You obviously don’t see that when you’re there.

Which remaining couples do you think will last?

Everyone in the nation, including me, love Sam and Tara! I think Jarrod and Keira are awesome as well.

I think Jake and Megan as well, they’ve been through a lot of struggles and they’ve always come back to each other and that’s what a good relationship is – working through the hard times.

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Fans are convinced Sam and Tara are engaged, what do you think about that?

I think they’re meant for each other and it’s beautiful what they have. If they’re engaged, I’m super happy for them!

Were there any ladies in Paradise you wish you’d gotten to know better?

I was there for such a short time and I felt like I didn’t get to know a lot of people. Rachael and I probably had two conversations in that whole time, everyone else was coupled up! That was the hard thing.

Anymore reality TV for you?

You never know what’s in the future but at the moment I’m working on my magic. The last year or so, that’s been my focus.

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