'It really sucked': Bachelor star Cass Wood on being labelled a stage five clinger

Cass Wood has spiled on her time on the show. Photo / Supplied

Cass Wood has opened up about being labelled a "stage five clinger" on The Bachelor, revealing the unflattering nickname took a toll on her mental health.

Wood made it to the top three of last year's season of The Bachelor but was the subject of jokes and memes from fans from almost day one of the series airing.

Viewers mocked her hair extensions and eager attitude on the show, accusing Wood of "stalking" Nick Cummins onto The Bachelor when it emerged the two had previously dated.

In a tell-all video posted on YouTube, Wood admitted finding herself made into a laughing stock on the internet had been hard to handle.

"The whole of Australia was watching you, they were seeing this edited version of you and came up with whatever they wanted to think of you, and it actually really sucked, the first few weeks really, really sucked," she said.

"And I didn't even know what this meant (before), but I would be trending on Twitter. I would just go through all of the tweets and everything people were saying — honestly it was so horrible.

"I cannot believed the things people would say. How can people say those things about someone?"

While friends and family warned her to stay away from the internet while The Bachelor aired, Wood ignored their advice and "read everything" instead.

"From night one I had memes made about me, about the dodgy hair extensions, so things just started from there," she said.

"And then it was crazy Cass, stalker Cass and then stage five clinger. Honestly, people told me not to read it, and you say I won't read it but you do read it.

"I pretty much read everything — all the comments, all the photos, all the tweets, all the media articles, and it really, really sucks."

Woods also described her time filming The Bachelor as an "emotionally draining" one that she was only able to "move on" from once her exit aired on TV.

Responding to a fan who asked if she was edited to look like a stage five clinger, Wood said: "I don't want to bag on the show or like the editing or whatever.

"But all I'm saying is that it's a TV show, very edited, so they can really make you out to be whatever they want."

View this post on Instagram

But the beginning of the rest of my life. Ok... Yes it may seem like Bachelor in Paradise was a little like De Ja Vu for me, but the intensity of both those experiences and any pain I felt is all worth it since having this guy walk back in to my life at the most perfect time. And yes I say “back” into my life, as we met back in 2017 😱 I can gladly say I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. And I’m so grateful for all of you for being so supportive and protective of me. My heart is so full ❤️ And Oi guys guess what... the ”dream journal” was right, I wanted to meet my soul mate when I was 23... and guess what I met him at 23 😂😂😈😈

A post shared by Cassandra Wood 🌹 (@casswood) on Apr 28, 2019 at 4:57am PDT

Wood also explained her infamous "dream journal" moment, where she read out a description of her perfect man to Cummins, who had to sit there squirming.
The incident led to Woods being ridiculed online, especially as some of the pages seemed to be blank.

But there was one big problem.

"I was definitely reading from something, (but) it wasn't my dream journal," she said. "I don't have a dream journal, and also I don't keep a diary."

After The Bachelor, Wood gave reality TV another go on Bachelor in Paradise but exited after her budding romance with Richie Strahan ended.

She has since found her own happy ending outside of the franchise and is dating rugby player Tyson Davis.