Sam, who was given the title 'villain' on Sophie's season of The Bachelorette, has managed to shrug off that public persona and win Australia's hearts with his love story with fan favourite Tara Pavlovic in paradise.
'I was initially hesitant to do it, obviously, but at that point, I just wanted to get away from what The Bachelorette had created,' Sam told Pedestrian TV. 'It wasn’t really me, that I saw on TV the whole time.'
Sam was initially hesitant to turn down the offer to appear on his second reality show, claiming he was 'duped' by Monk.
'I think I was one of 20 men duped there,' Sam said. 'I don’t need to be an a**e to Sophie, but I wasn’t treated very well by her. And I felt like I probably took the responsibility to try and make sure her show was entertaining, which was the dumbest thing to do. I didn’t fall for her, I didn’t really fall for the whole thing, either.'
'She tried to burn me after it, and I just thought, that was an awful experience,' he finished.
After the Sam's exit from the show, he and Sophie's relationship turned sour.
Sam told Kyle and Jackie O that he'd shared a 'really great' kiss with Sophie, but it never made it to air.
Sophie, hearing the interview, called and slammed Sam for bending the truth.
'What happened is, I gave him a rose and pecked him to be polite, and he goes, ‘Can I have a peck?’ and I go, ‘That was a peck,’ and he grabbed my head and made me kiss him. I didn’t really kiss him back and it made me feel really uncomfortable. So if [the producers] cut it out, that’s probably why.' she said.
She also didn’t hold back when revealing why she’d booted him from the competition.
'He was performing for the cameras — he didn’t even look at me half the time.'
Luckily for Sam, he has found love with bubbly Gold Coast local Tara, and the two are busy planning their wedding.
