Olena Khamula - 2nd SD girl - Bachelor Australia - Season 4

Loulou wrote:To all the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].   Thankyou for your company during this season. Loved Olena right to the end for being true to herself and Richie. I am looking forward to following her in the future as think this will not be last we see of her. Today I was hopeful for Rolena but after tonight was happy she left as obvious Richie is not her person. Enjoy the bachelorette seasons. Need to get back my life. 

see2love wrote:When we interviewed Olena Khamula before this season of The Bachelor kicked off, we loved her straight away. She was honest, funny and charming, and we knew she would be one to watch when the show started. When Richie Strahan met her, he was clearly taken by her — so much so she made it to the final three!

Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. Olena was left without a rose in tonight's penultimate episode of the show. Prior to her elimination, we chatted to the Ukrainian beauty about not landing that final rose, why she wasn't sad to leave and whether or not she's dating tennis player Nick Lindahl. Scroll to read!

POPSUGAR Australia: How did you feel about being eliminated?

Olena: I think I'm fine, I feel OK about being eliminated. I saw it coming, it wasn't a big surprise to me. I had a really honest conversation with Richie where I didn't really think I was the girl for him at the end.

PS: Why's that?

Olena: Oh, look, we had a great relationship. We had a really fantastic relationship but I think after the home dates it made me question so much about things with Perth [where Richie lives] and . . . I knew the other girls had a lot of feelings for him and I knew that it was not fair. I didn't want to go in for the win, I really wanted to be honest to myself and to him, so he could find his true love. I knew it wasn't me.

PS: Wow! Did you feel that way for a long time?

Olena: No, not really. I think I kind of figured it out after the hometown dates. Before I was like, "OK, I really . . . What if I still don't know something about him?" That was something that intrigued me and I wanted to keep going to find out more about him. I felt like I didn't have enough time for myself to open up towards him.

PS: One of the things we loved about you was that you stayed true to yourself — you didn't move too fast and you were honest about keeping your walls up. Did you ever worry that would work against you?

Olena: No, I was just being myself. I wasn't going to lie to him about who I am, or that I like camping. I really enjoyed the mud, you know Tough Mudder? I enjoyed that. I wasn't going to lie to him about the person that I am and how I felt. I wanted him to know the real me, and then he could judge if I'm the girl for him, like I was judging if he's the guy for me.

PS: What did you think of Richie?

Olena: I think he's an amazing guy! I think he's a great guy. He's funny, he's so bubbly. He's a lot funnier off camera than on. A lot of people meet me out in the street and they're like, "Please tell me Richie's not boring," and I'm like, "He's not boring!" The edit does not do him justice; he's funny as hell. Nina and I would have massive crack-ups — he's a very funny guy.

PS: He's very charismatic in real life, too!

Olena: Yeah, he's a massive character! I think he was just really nervous, the nerves were kicking in. Great guy.

PS: Between Alex and Nikki, does one stand out to you as the clear winner?

Olena: I think both girls are absolutely amazing. They both have different personalities but both are amazing. I'm not sure . . . I can't really figure out which one Richie will go for. It's 50-50 for me, to be honest.

PS: Did you get along with both Nikki and Alex?

Olena: I got along very well with Alex — she was my roomie! I love Nikki, Nikki's great but me and Alex definitely got along. Fantastic girl.

PS: What made you decide to go on the show in the first place? Are you ready to settle down?

Olena: I really do want to find a man, I really do want to fall in love. It's been really hard for me with the dating scene — I've been really picking the wrong guys. They're all great guys, but just not for me. Not for my personality, but they might make another girl happy. I came on the show, I really did want to fall in love. When I was signing up, it was [for] the experience, and thinking that I could potentially find the love of my life — why not go for it?

PS: Did it give you more of an idea of what you're looking for in a man?

Olena: I learnt a lot about myself on the show. I'm such an emotional person deep inside but when it comes out I really don't know how to control it. So I'd rather hold it in and not show anything. After the show, I've been — not an emotional wreck — but I've been very open with my feelings and how I feel about certain things and people. I've been getting a really positive vibe from people, that they appreciate that I'm [being honest] about certain things and how I feel about them.

PS: Did you find it hard to keep it all a secret?

Olena: I did for a little bit, I was trying really hard to keep it under wraps. But sitting at home isn't going to happen for me. I'm a very outgoing person, I love people, I love being social, telling stories, going for coffee . . . So for me to be sitting at home, I would be depressed. I couldn't do it!Of course I'm going to go out, I'm going to have fun. I tried to keep it under wraps as much as possible but it wasn't going to happen. If I wanted to keep everything under wraps I would have had to be sitting at home in my room, on Netflix.

PS: So how sad were you to go home — or were you not sad at all?

Olena: Oh . . . Honestly? [Laughs] I think I had a feeling I was going to go home. Steph [Dixon, a former bachelorette] said every girl gets a feeling when they're going to go home. I already had my speech prepared! When I walked up to him I was like, "Look, I know I'm going home. Don't feel bad, don't look at me with your puppy dog eyes — I'm fine!" [Laughs] I promise you, I'm all good. We had a good conversation and he understood what I was talking about and I understood what he was talking about. At the end of the day, he wasn't for me — he's for someone else.

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see2love wrote:I love her, I wasnt sure she would win but I loved her relationship and approach with him best.

I hate when contestants fawn over the Lead like he is everything and all things and they as people just exist to be chosen