Excuse me, but there’s one shining star to come out of this whole Bachelor franchise: Apollo Jackson, the 25-year-old thirst magician (and actual magician) who stole every single one of our hearts.
We met young Apollo on Sophie Monk‘s season, when he was pulling all eight of his abs out of a magic hat for the gladiator photoshoot. (Like, he was around before then? But I needed the pulling his abs / out of a hat line, okay? Work with me here.)
Almost immediately, we all fell in love with him for being just a perfectly nice human being in the absolute garbage pit of dude-bros that made up the rest of Sophie’s cohort. So when it was announced that he’d be back for Bachelor In Paradise, the Apollo fan club amongst us spent most of this season WAITING FOR APOLLO.
So when is Apollo arriving in paraidse? Asking for myself. #BachelorInParadise
— David Rolph (@dkrolph) April 2, 2018
It’s the Apollocalypse. Gird your loins ladies. 😍 #BachelorInParadiseAU pic.twitter.com/SkrjDmrn7d
— Alex Anastassiou (@alexanasta_) April 15, 2018
#BachelorInParadiseAU Every girl when Apollo walked in pic.twitter.com/i1FfRIsuvr
— Do You Bayleef In Life After Love? (@dybilalchannel) April 15, 2018
And look – it / he did not disappoint. Even Osher Günsberg is in the Apollo fan club.
What’s that?
You’d like a never ending loop of Apollo’s glorious oily rig while he plays with fire?Here you are.#bachelorinparadiseau pic.twitter.com/WhHzGxvAgF
— Osher Günsberg (@oshergunsberg) April 23, 2018
So of course, when we caught up with Apollo following his exit from Paradise with Simone (more on that in a minute), we had to ask him what he thought of his ~fan favourite~ status.
“I think it’s really nice, to just get recognised and appreciated for just being me,” he said. “I feel like growing up, I wasn’t the sort of kid that fit in to a certain group, or didn’t fit into a certain demographic. You’ve got this dude that’s into sci-fi and pop culture [he has a Star Wars-themed bedroom], but also is heavily into sport and fitness, but then runs around doing magic tricks, and also writes and sings music. Being like that, I never really fit into a certain group. It’s just nice. You get these nice messages, people just appreciating you for the person you are.”
Yep, Apollo wears his nerdiness on his sleeve, and freely admits he still part-time lives at home. There were rumours that his breakup with Simone was in part because she didn’t like his Batman bedsheets in his room at his mum’s house, so we had to ask: are those legit?
“It’s no secret I’m a massive nerd,” he said. “I spend most of my time in Sydney, but on the Gold Coast, when I’m back there for the one-to-two days a week most of the time, I stay with my family. I do have my room there, and my room is 100% me. It’s full of Star Wars memorabilia, it’s full of Batman stuff, I do have a Batman bed, there’s a Batman pinball machine in there. It’s 100% me. Look, I own it, too. I’m happy. I don’t think it’s any different to a guy into motorbikes wearing a Harley Davidson t-shirt, it I’m rocking around in Batman shirt.”
As for him and Simone, he said that they “tried our best”, but ultimately, living in two different cities (he’s in the Gold Coast / Sydney, and she’s in Melbourne) brought things to an end. In good news for every single one of you thirst hounds, he’s single.
“Not at the moment,” he answered when we asked if he was dating anyone. “Just focusing on my family and career.”
As for who he’s looking for in a partner: “I think just someone who can have a laugh, someone who’s a bit quirky, I definitely need someone a bit quirky and out there, it’s a big part of my personality. And just someone who’s really positive, and just happy to give different things a go. Someone who’s a little bit kind, and they think about other people.”
We can only assume that some kind of penchant for small fluffy animals will not go astray.
Meanwhile, he’s releasing his debut on May 11 this year, hanging with the fam and generally just being his adorable self. PLEASE NEVER EVER CHANGE OKAY? Okay.
PS – Couldn’t fit this GIF in anywhere else but it broke our hearts last night and you need to see it / have your heart broken as well. I give you… Apollo mouthing “sorry” to Elora when he picked Simone at the rose ceremony. Breathtaking.
