The final rose ceremony ended well for Northlander Hamish Boyt with the stunning Bay of Islands in the background.
The final rose ceremony ended well for Northlander Hamish Boyt with the stunning Bay of Islands in the background.
Northland featured prominently on Monday night's finale of The Bachelorette as a Whangārei contestant learned he'd won the heart of the star of the show amid a stunning Bay of Islands backdrop.
Hamish Boyt, 30, was chosen by Lexie Brown, 31, ahead of 17 other contestants from around the country.
Hamish plans to bring Lexie back to Northland to climb Mt Manaia.
Since filming wrapped in November, the pair had spent a couple of months together publicly before the series began screening. To keep the outcome of the show secret, they were careful not to venture out together while dividing their time between their hometowns of Whangārei and Ohope Beach. Yesterday was their first day publicly as a couple and included around a dozen interviews, albeit it via phone and Zoom with lockdown levels stopping their planned Auckland interviews.
"We went out for a coffee at around 8am and had already done two interviews," revealed Brown. "All the staff know me already but it was really cool because I got to introduce Hamish."
Since filming, Lexie and Hamish had spent time together publicly before the series screened.
During their first few months, Boyt said he had taken Lexie to several locations around Northland, including Bream Head and surfing at Sandy Bay.
"I'm planning to take her up Mt Manaia next," he said, adding that they had been fishing together several times since the show and he had been "keeping it north fresh" and faring much better than his televised fail when he caught no fish and one kina.
Whangārei winner Hamish Boyt.
"We've been out lots of times and I can confirm he does know how to catch fish and oysters," laughed Brown.
Although they'd watch the show each night, Boyt said he'd only watch the parts he featured in, unable to view the other contestants with Brown.
"It would be quite hard to watch. As it was, I cringed every time I had to watch myself," said Boyt, whose last relationship was six years ago, lasting four years.
The happy couple plan to live in Mt Maunganui.
Brown's hardest moments were watching the rose ceremonies.
"I hated watching those. They were awful at the time and awful to watch. But it's been so nice! It's been so cool to watch all our memories play back. It only happens once and it's such a blur at the time."
She said she hadn't learned anything new about Boyt, having watched the behind-the-scenes footage as, by now, they had got to know each other fairly well and he was "fairly black and white".
A content creator, Boyt had spent the last 10 years travelling while carving out a career in photography and videography. He had just returned to Whangārei to settle down and live a "New Zealand lifestyle" before Covid hit.
"I was still travelling around New Zealand but I saw [the advertisement] pop up and thought 'That looks like a new adventure, I'll give it a go'. I thought maybe I'd find someone else to come on adventures."
Bachelorette Lexie Brown.
Down-to-earth Brown had also recently returned from living in Canada and applied for the show as a joke. However, after getting the call-back, her adventurous attitude took over and she thought "Why not?"
Fellow contestant and Whangārei mate Joe Weck was stoked for the pair.
Meanwhile, Boyt's fellow contestant and Whangārei mate Joe Weck, 31, was happy for the couple.
"I saw the love in his eyes and I think the night I pulled out, he seemed a lot more engrossed and captivated than I was."
The injury he had sustained while on an ice skating date on the show had finally healed and when asked if the experience was worth it, Weck replied he had no ambivalent thoughts about entering the show.
"You get one opportunity – I have no regrets at all," he said, adding that watching the show had been funny.
He said he'd attended a festival in Christchurch recently and received a lot of female attention as well as receiving random friend requests and messages.
While he knew a couple of the ladies entered in the new series of The Bachelor debuting last night, Weck had plans for a video call catch-up with Boyt and Brown, both of whom he considered friends.
"I'm stoked for them."
Brown had kept in touch with the other contestants via a group chat, while Boyt said he had met up with several for a couple of beers. And they were excited to reunite at the televised reunion planned for later this month.
While they were planning to live in Mt Maunganui, Boyt planned to bring Brown back to the north and carry out a "Far North mission", including the sand dunes and a surf at Ahipara.
As for how their families responded with their choices - "Oh my god, I think they [my family] like her better than me!" said Hamish.
The Poor Knights featured on the final episode of The Bachelorette.
Northland featured prominently on the final episode, with the two "fantasy dates" comprising snorkelling at the Poor Knights via Dive! Tutukaka and a spa retreat at Russell's Donkey Bay Inn, followed by the final rose ceremony at Paroa Bay Winery with a stunning Bay of Islands backdrop.
Kate Malcolm of Dive! Tutukaka confirmed the team had taken out the Bachelorette and one of the final contestants with the crew in November and she had watched the final episode last night.
"I felt very proud. We've got an amazing team and we know how beautiful and special it is and often it just reinforces how amazing it is when [visitors] say 'Oh my God, it's amazing!' We get a real sense of pride. The Poor Knights is a taonga."
