The Bachelor finale shock: Matty and Laura’s secret pact

Heading to a secluded island in Thailand to film the emotional final episodes with his top three picks, Bachelor Matthew ‘Matty J’ Johnson is believed to have been keeping something from two of the girls.

While brunette beauty Laura Byrne may have looked nervous during the lead up to the tearful ending in the luxury Santhiya resort on Koh Yao Yai, sources close to the jewellery designer claim she already knew she would be one of the last girls standing on this season of the Channel Ten dating show.

According to the insider, Laura made a secret pact with the handsome bachelor months before filming that the pair would play along for the cameras so they could be together.

Unbeknown to Laura’s fellow finalists, Elise Taylor and Tara Pavlovic, the Bondi pair dated before the show, devising a plan to stay together while reaping the benefits of fame. ‘It was after hooking up on New Year’s Eve that Laura applied for the show,’ a source close to Laura tells New Idea. ‘She had been spending time with Matty and both of them knew they didn’t want it to end there.’

Read the full story in this week’s issue of New Idea, on sale now.