Lee Elliott - Guy #3 in 1st Promo Video - The Notebook Date guy - Bachelorette Australia - Season 2 - *Sleuthing Spoilers*

Lee Elliott on His Relationship With Georgia Love: "This Is Something Special"
24 October, 2016 by GENEVIEVE ROTA

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Lee Elliott, 35, became a front runner on The Bachelorette the very instant we met him in the first episode. He rocked up with a donkey (a winning move in itself), told terrible and amazing dad jokes, and made Bachelorette Georgia Love incredibly nervous — all of which adds up to one thing: he's got a real chance of winding up with Georgia in Thursday night's finale.

We spent some time on the phone with Lee ahead of the finale, to get the low-down on his feelings for Georgia. We also wanted to find out why he applied for the show, and just how nervous he was that he could get his heart broken on national TV.

Scroll for our chat with lovely Lee!

POPSUGAR Australia: How have you found The Bachelorette experience?
Lee: Humbling. It's been overwhelming, it's just been incredible. You go into this thing and you never know what to expect, and the whole experience has just been amazing and very humbling. Guys are not usually open about their feelings and relationships and things like that — so I found that side of things quite cathartic. It was quite therapeutic and actually taught me a lot about myself.

PS: That's good to hear, because I feel like it could get overwhelming at times.
Lee: You're right, at times it does get a little bit overwhelming. That was more me — I'm not a very confident person. On our very first date, Georgia and I had an amazing connection. There was something special there, and then I had to sit back and watch these incredible guys — whom I've come to know, love and respect — take her and tell everyone else how amazing she is, which you already know. I struggled a little bit with that side of things. Any time it was just Georgia and I though, it was just incredible. It was like no one else mattered.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

PS: Did you find it surprising that you actually liked this person? The odds of having a real connection with whoever the Bachelorette is, and being attracted to her and all that is quite slim, no?
Lee: Absolutely. I came into this completely and utterly open to falling in love. But of course, there's the little sceptic in the back of your mind going, "There's this one girl, why would she be . . . " But I'm also a strong believer in fate, and that things happen for a reason, so I'm also like, "Why couldn’t she be?"

PS: It's almost a bit negative to think you might not. You never know what could come from it!
Lee: I think if you put yourself out there in the universe, it will come back and work in your favour. Even things like, Georgia and I have spoken about the fact that we're obviously both from Melbourne, and talked about different places we've been, and realised we've both been in the same place at the same time — we just hadn't crossed paths. It's like two ships passing in the night, and I love that because maybe the timing wasn't right then. Maybe it's right for us both now. Again, it's fate for me, and I love thinking about it that way.

PS: What made you go on in the first place?

Lee: It's kind of a long story in that about six years ago my father fell ill. Ever since then I have a new lease on life. At that point, I realised how precious life was. It's short — make the most of it. I've done some amazing, crazy things in the last six years: I've been travelling, running with bulls, hang-gliding off cliffs, riding mountain bikes down Death Road and things like that. To me, it's just an incredible adventure and who's to say I don't fall in love? I'm 35 and a lot of people have questioned me and said I should be married already — but why should I be? I've yet to find my soul mate and my best friend that I absolutely want to spend the rest of my life with, and that's why!

PS: They're saying it like you're 65!
Lee: I agree! [Laughs] I'm in my prime! 30 is the new 20!

PS: So you were ready to have the experience of falling in love?
Lee: Definitely. I'm at the point at my life now where I'm ready to find my soul mate. I'm reluctant to say 'settle down' because I don't like that term — it kind of implies giving up. I want to find my best mate and soul mate to share life with: the ups, the downs, everything.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

PS: Can you please tell us what you like about Georgia Love?
Lee: How long have you got? Honestly, there's so much to love about Georgia Love. You can't go past that undeniable sense of humour that both of us share — what no one else thinks is funny, we think is hilarious. It's uncanny because we very much share the same sense of humour. She is an incredibly independent, strong, educated and intelligent woman, and so driven. I'm not attracted to women who are just willing to settle, who are happy with just letting life happen. She's somebody who's willing to take on life. Her becoming The Bachelorette> is testament to that as well, and I find that extremely attractive. And let's not deny the fact that she's absolutely beautiful and has the most incredible eyes I have ever seen in my life. I get lost in them. She's incredibly intelligent and she's also, like myself, a grammar Nazi. Grammar is the difference between knowing your poop and knowing you're poop [laughs].

PS: Your mum said you're normally with blonde girls...But you'd have to be pretty fussy to only go for blonde girls...
Lee: [Laughs] It's just so happened that my last four girlfriends — the only four serious girlfriends I've ever had — have been blonde. That's purely an aesthetic thing, each of them have been beautiful inside and out; driven, strong and intelligent women. Georgia fits that. She may be brunette, but it's just a coincidence [that the others were all blonde]. If you want to go down that angle, where has that got me? I'm still here trying to find the love of my life!

PS: If that's the only red flag you guys had, it's a pretty good situation.
Lee: [Laughs] Yeah! To be honest, I'm sure that's probably played up a little bit on the show, because that's all they have.

PS: At this point, how worried are you about getting your heart broken?
Lee: Completely. Massively. You're in a position where you're very vulnerable and you've got to put your feelings out there, knowing full well that she can't tell you how she feels. The one thing I didn't want to do was leave with regrets, and you only ever regret the things you don't do. So I genuinely had feelings for this girl, and I didn't want to leave without her knowing how I actually felt about her. That would be my biggest regret and something I would regret all my life, if I was to be sent home without having told her exactly how I felt about her. So it absolutely plays on your mind. I can say that throughout this whole thing I struggled early on . . . but the more I got to spend time with her, and especially after taking her home to meet my family, that was when I really had a moment. I already knew there was something special, but you can also wonder whether you're getting caught up in all this. I sat back and watched her with my family and just took it in and went, "Hang on, there's far more here. This is something special."

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]