But as they strip down for a beachwear shoot exclusively for New Idea, the happy duo are all smiles and seem perfectly at ease in front of the camera.
Ex-Adelaide Crows midfielder Jared, 28, alongside his gorgeous girlfriend Jess, 25, are more loved-up than ever and reveal that babies and wedding bells are just around the corner!
‘We do want to have kids and get married, but it’s obviously not going to happen while we’re on the show,’ the couple admit.
‘It’s not going to happen on TV!’ Jared laughs.
At times, Jess has found the whole show very emotional and has broken down in tears quite a few times.
‘Paint night is the hardest night,’ Jess explains.
‘It hits two or three in the morning and it just hits you how hard it is. I do cry a lot. This is a very emotional year, I reckon. A lot of us cry.
‘It’s harder than all of us ever thought it was going to be,’ she admits. ‘When you’re struggling with the show, you do wish you were home,’ Jared adds.
Jared, whose parents divorced when he was just three, was brought up by his grandparents from the age of five, and they helped foster his love of football – which today he uses to help coach younger players.
‘Because I’m getting older with footy, I’m not the best public speaker or anything like that, but I really do love helping out younger players and that’s something I’ve really relished since dropping down a level,’ he says.
These days he and Jess enjoy living a healthy lifestyle at home and have ditched fad diets for homemade cooking.
‘We’re not crazy “can’t eat carbs” people at all,’ Jess adds. ‘Our goal after the show is to cook together. We want to cook healthy and eat healthy.’
See the full story in this week's issue of New Idea, on sale now.
