Interview: Ali from The Bachelor tells all.

Love her or loathe her (although I don’t know how you could ever loathe the human-equivalent of Bambi), the most fascinating contestant on The Bachelor this year has been Ali. Crazy-eyed, Disney Princess, head-over-heels in love Ali.

She’s an enigma. A scary, perfect-looking, possibly deranged enigma.

Everybody has so many questions about her. Was her trying to kiss him on the first night the real deal? Did she fake that leg injury? Is she actually that pure of heart or is she banging it on for the cameras?

Let me tell you something – she actually is that pure of heart. She came into the Mamamia office for a chat recently, and (besides being petrified that she would hate me for constantly joking about her stealing Tim’s pubic hair for black magic) I was actually shocked at just how lovely the girl is.

Lovely and… genuine. A little too genuine. There is not a shred of irony about her. She actually is just deeply and truly in love with a man who she competed for on national television.

Now, obviously the show is only at the top three, so I couldn’t ask her anything about ‘the winner’. I did try to trick her into telling me how many roses she walked away with, but no luck (although she did tell me that the girls hung their roses upside-down in their bedrooms like bizarre dried-floral trophies).

I can tell you that she was very warm, very friendly and very beautiful. She wore tiny shorts, shiny heels and was still limping from her injured knee.

Oh, and much to my disappointment, she travelled by taxi and not sea plane or catamaran.

She drank a lactose-free latte, I drank a water and she graciously answered all of my questions.

This is how it went down (along with what I was actually thinking at the time, natch).

RW: Why did you decide to do it?

A: Well basically, I know I’m at the stage now that I really want to find the one person that I’m meant to be with for the rest of my life. And I came out of a three year relationship before going on the show and I just wanted to take another stab at it.

And I thought, they’re going to find he most charismatic, handsome, whole-rounded man to be The Bachelor and I think I should really have a shot at that one!

(Such a good answer. She basically let Channel Ten set her up. Much less deranged than what I was expecting.)

RW: What was it like in the house? Like really?

A: At first it was really confronting and I sort of went into my shell a bit. It was a bit daunting because there were some huge personalities. But as the numbers dwindled down, they got to know me and I got to know them more and we realised that we were there for each other. And that’s all we had. So yeah. We were really affectionate towards each other. We baked together, cooked together, worked out together, went in the sauna together.

(Baked together? This is not juicy enough. When is she going to start talking about the love basement?)

RW: Were you guys only allowed out to see Tim?

A: Yeah.

(So you were his prisoners.)

RW: How was that? Being cooped up all the time?

A: Looking back on it, it was really an amazing experience, because it made you think about your feelings so much and it made you really invest in yourself. Because you don’t normally give that much time to yourself. You just have so much time to think about things.

(Ugh. Who is this Oprah-esq woman and where is crazy-eyes? Maybe I can turn this around…)

RW: So… Also a lot of time to think about… Tim?

A: Oh yeah. That’s practically what I thought about all day every day. And… it was nice to invest all that time in him as well, because you know, you really did think, is he the thing that I want? And yeah. He was.

(Shocker.)

RW: Do you believe in love at first sight?

A: I definitely believe in it. Yes.

RW: Because everyone wants to know about the first night when you went in for the kiss. Did you do that because you were already in love then?

A: I think it was more living in the moment. I was just totally caught up in the moment. And I could feel his vibes towards me and the spark that we shared at the very first meeting and just speaking to him a couple of times throughout the night it was just like “Oh my god!” And then I got caught in his eyes and then…

RW: You went for it?

A: (Laughs) Yep. It was terrible watching it. When I saw that episode.

RW: Have you been embarrassed watching it back?

A: The only time was yeah, the first night when I went in for that kiss. That was a bit cringe worthy. But I laughed it off of course. It wasn’t like “Oh my god I can’t believe it.” It was just cringe worthy. Funny.

RW: How have you felt about how you’ve been portrayed?

A: Um… At first I was like “Oh golly.” But then I, you know, knew that the public would get to know me and because I was just myself and confident in who I am I was confident that the public would like me.

(Wow. She actually says “Oh Golly.” Must find out if she is Cinderella.)

RW: Have you been okay with people making a bit of fun?

A: I absolutely laugh it off because I can see from your point of view why you would find it hilarious. But at the same time, I know that you can see my genuine side so that’s what makes it okay.

RW: Are you a Disney Princess?

A: (Laughs)

RW: You look like one. You look like Cinderella.

A: Oh thank you. I LOVE Disney movies, oh my god.

(Oh god Rosie, turn this around or you’ll spend the next 20 minutes talking about The Little Mermaid.)

RW: Do you think the competition brought put the bad side in some people?

A: I mean, not a bad side but…

(She’s not that mean. Help her out.)

RW: A competitive side maybe?

A: Yeah. There were a few girls who were… That perhaps learned a few things about themselves because they realised maybe they weren’t as grown up and mature as they thought and… just learned from the experience. Especially watching it back.

(GET DETAILS ROSIE.)

RW: I feel like you’re not going to answer this because you’re just too lovely, but did you have a least favourite person?

A: A least favourite? I suppose… Joelene? I mean I didn’t even get to know her that well but… I’d never met anyone like her before.

(Yes! Good! Make Cinderella say more bad things!)

RW: We thought she was drunk.

A: Well… I don’t know whether she was there for what was between Tim’s legs or…(laughs)

Because watching it back she was just like going in for the kill wasn’t she? And teasing Sarah about her ‘back fat’ and stuff. It was just wrong. And that just showed her insecurities.

I think it was a great move by Tim (getting rid off her) and we got to learn that obviously he didn’t like that. I think it was a good move because otherwise if he had kept her in, you’d be concerned as to what his type is.

(She actually just turned an opportunity to have a bitch-fest into a chance to talk about how smart Tim is. Exhausting.)

RW: Did you have a BFF in the house?

A: Yes. Anna. We have the same morals. And the same sort of family values. And we’re both really lovely, friendly, lovable people.

RW: How was that though? Because she’s quite a competitor for you. How was it being BFFs but knowing that she’s pashing your man?

A: I think it made sense. Because knowing that we are similar, of course Tim would be interested in us both. But there were things that differentiate us so that’s sort of what I had my faith in. That he can see the differences. Because it does all come down to what Tim wants. And you can’t be something different. You have to be yourself. He has to learn who you really are.

(Ugh. She is too lovely. Let’s ask her an open-ended question abuot Tim and see how long she talks for.)

RW: Speaking of Tim, let’s talk about loverboy. What are your thoughts about him, just generally?

A: Um, generally… Probably the most handsome man I’ve ever laid my eyes on. In every single way. His hair. His eyes. His teeth…

RW: His endless muscles?

A: His endless muscles! His hieght. I really… And just how he has a little crooked nose that just makes him all the more perfect because he’s not entirely perfect. So there’s that.

(ARRRRRGGGGHHHH MAKE IT STOP.)

And he’s so caring. So down to earth. Motivated. Successful. He’s a bit of a joker and he likes to muck around and be crazy which I just love because I’m naturally a sort of goofy person. He’s kind of the perfect guy.

RW: It sounds like you’re in love with him.

A: Yeah. I fell in love with him.

RW: Can you tell us about the first moment you saw him?

A: I opened the door of the limo and I just stood there and stared at him like… Is he real?

I mean, it was like a Disney movie or something. Like he was something that an animation director had dreamed up. He just… took my breath away. Absolutely.

And he had this, sort of, beam around him and he was just… amazing.

And I just had to hold his hands so tight, because he made me so nervous and I just sort of had to cling on and I think he could gauge my spark with him. Because we definitely had a spark.

He’s so perfect it’s scary. But then, nobody’s perfect.

(I… I can’t even… Is he her religion now? I think she just levitated off her chair a little. )

RW: Oh, so were there any qualities you didn’t like about him then?

A: No.

(Alrighty then.)

RW: Can you tell us about the big accident on the catamaran? You know, a lot of people think that it was a ploy. I may or may not have referred to it as your magnum opus…

A: No! I would never purposefully fracture my leg or snap my ligaments to do that.

(Wouldn’t you?)

RW: Were you psyched though, that you got to spend the whole day together?

A: Yeah. It was good that it brought us together and our bond was just so much stronger. Because even normal couples don’t go through such a traumatic experience together and they don’t witness how each other acts and reacts in a situation like that. So he saw how positive I was and how strong I was, and I saw how caring he was and how he just didn’t leave my side. So in that respect, it was a positive thing that came out of it.

(‘Couples’ hey…)

RW: When you came out of the shadows that night on those crutches, it was pretty much the greatest moment of the show so far.

A: Yeah I think some of the girls thought I wasn’t coming back so… It didn’t deter me. It was just a hurdle.

(Get the proof Rosie – did she, or did she not, fake the injury?)

RW: What exactly did you do to your leg?

A: Fractured the top of my tibia and fractured all my ligaments in my knee. I had one operation on the show and I’ve got to have another reconstruction surgery.

(Wow. Yikes. Touché.)

RW: So, just a hurdle then?

(The most serious I’ve ever seen her face.)

A: Yes.

So that’s how it happened. Ali is head over heels, ‘torn ligaments are just a hurdle’ in love. And just to make sure I really probed her brain as much as I could, I played quite an interesting game of word association with her. Here it is:

Ali’s been booted! NOOOOOO! Read the epic recap RIGHT HERE.