Ivan – also known as this season’s resident dancer – was sadly sent home from The Bachelorette Australia in tonight’s tense episode.
Ivan, along with former front-runner Bill, was invited to a two-on-one date with Ali Oetjen, with only one able to return to the mansion.
After a heartfelt attempt to convince Ali that he was the “right” guy for her, and one polite (but sadly, denied) request for a kiss, Ivan was sent packing. But not before he told Ali he “just wanted to dance for her,” and stormed out of the room.
We caught up with Ivan to chat about his dramatic exit, and his thoughts on Bill and Charlie’s growing rivalry.
Obviously it wasn’t ideal to be picked for that two-on-one date! You seemed quite shocked to have been chosen. Were you quite upset?
That’s probably an understatement! Yeah I probably had one of the biggest breakdowns I’ve ever had in my life. When I heard that announcement I was shocked at first, and then it all hit me and then the waterworks came on pretty strong.
Were you confused? Did you think you had a strong connection with Ali? Did you think there was a future for the two of you?
I think I definitely had a lot of work to do, but I think we had a lot of similarities. But that’s not everything with love! But I did think from that we could work on our chemistry and there seemed to be a future there.
Is there anything you wish you had said or done differently?
Yeah! I probably shouldn’t have told her that I could have compromised on the five kids!
Was it hard to be on the date with Bill? Because it has been mentioned on the show that you were good mates…
Yeah me and Bill were good friends! We’re both tradies, we both hit it off, and we’ve got a lot of similarities with our personalities and we both sort of bounce off each other. Up until that point he was obviously my best mate at that time, so that sort of added to the stress.
If you had to be sent home, were you at least happy Bill got to stay?
I’m happy he got to stay, but I did believe at the time that I was the better choice for Ali.
Bill was obviously put in to a pretty tough situation thanks to Charlie, was their feud awkward? Was it obvious in the house?
Yeah it was pretty noticeable, they did keep it pretty civil but yeah they were butting heads a bit. But as it went on they buried it.
Charlie kept going on about how Bill was hiding something, or was lying. From what you saw, was he a genuine guy?
From him speaking with me, I think he’s genuine, but I don’t know if he’s genuine with Ali. But yeah, I think I’m a good judge of character and he seemed pretty genuine.
When you walked away from Ali, you were quite upset and it wasn’t exactly a nice farewell. Do you have any regrets?
I did actually… after I’d gotten over the whole thing and moved on, I did think about that and I wish her all the best in the future. Considering the boys I left in the house, I’m pretty confident she’ll find the right guy for herself. I wish I’d gotten that across but the disappointment took over, so hopefully I’ll get the chance to congratulate her down the track.
