The happy couple to come out of 2015’s The Bachelor, Sam Wood and Snezana Markoski, have sympathised with this year’s winners of Channel 10’s marquee series.
While the popular duo – who became engaged in December last year – didn’t watch Richie Strahan or Georgia Love‘s seasons “as closely as everyone might think”, they told Mamamia the backlash against the resulting couples did take them by surprise.
“It’s a bit more backlash than we got,” fitness entrepreneur Sam told us in a Facebook Live session on Monday morning.
LISTEN: Mamamia sat down with Snez earlier this year to find out how she ‘does it all’. (Post continues…)
“[Fans felt quite invested] with our series as well,” Snezana added, noting that some viewers left comments on Sam’s social media pages, telling him he’d ‘made the wrong choice’.
“Even months after Snez and I were together you’d hop onto social media and see people saying, ‘Yeah, you picked the wrong girl’, which I guess they’re just getting off their chest,” Sam continued.
But both Sam and Snez agreed: “It’s been a lot worse this time round.”
The 35-year-old puts the difference down to how the audience received Snez, and how she was portrayed by the producers.
“I think a lot of people wanted Snez to win and loved her,” he explained. “I don’t just say that because I loved Snez, I genuinely think that a lot of people wanted her to win, and therefore it wasn’t as controversial.
"I feel like in the more recent Bachelor and Bachelorette perhaps the favourite didn't win, or [the audience] were split 50/50, so there was going to be backlash either way," he finished.
Sam Wood is currently promoting his '28' fitness program, which commences next week.