While Matty J and Laura Byrne are one of the most successful couples to ever come out of The Bachelor Australia, their path could have been very different, with the latter admitting that she quit the show prior to filming.

Laura was a fan favourite throughout Matty J’s season which aired in season five which aired in 2017. The couple’s relationship went from strength to strength and they are now engaged with two children, Lola Ellis and Marlie-Mae.

However, Laura has said that she got cold feet and pulled out of filming, and only showed up on set when producers gave her an ultimatum.

“If you’re selected, you get given a time and location, and it’s a secret time and secret location, to try and throw off paparazzi,” Byrne explained on News.com.au’s podacst I’ve Got News For You.

“Mine was a pick-up location in Alexandria in some random park at 3pm, and you’re supposed to rock up with all your suitcases and a bus will come and collect you.

“And I remember 3pm came and went and I was sitting at home and hadn’t packed a bag. I just had a complete change of heart. I really didn’t want to do it, I was worried about what it would look like vying for a man’s attention on a reality TV show.”

“[They said] ‘If you change your mind, your last opportunity to join the experiment is to come to Ultimo Hotel by 10am tomorrow’,” Byrne said.

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“I went to bed that night, I hadn’t packed or anything. And this sounds so ‘woo woo’ but I had a dream. I woke up at about two-thirty in the morning. And I can’t remember the specifics [of the dream] but I had this feeling that something really huge and life-changing was waiting for me.

“I woke my housemates up, and we packed my bags and then at 6 o’clock in the morning they drove me to Ultimo Hotel and I was gone for three and a half months.”

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