Bachelor South Africa - Lee Thompson - Season 1 - General Discussion - *Sleuthing Spoilers*

A general discussion thread for SA's first Bachelor!

Feel like I'm creating a daisy chain of off-topic posts here but it looks like The Bachelor UK, which was cancelled a few years ago, will be returning in 2019 and according to this article they will be filming some of it in South Africa! Not sure if there's a deliberate cross over going on or what but perhaps we could get a seperate thread for Bachelor UK?

@Bobette Thank you   South Africa is getting lots of tourism this year. Can't blame them, SA is stunning!

Posting a thread HERE until @GuardianAngel can create a new All Topics thread for the homepage.

As per episode 6 the remaining contestants are;

Edith, Michelle D, Jena, Jozzan, Michelle R, Gina, Jacqueline and Nontombi.
Edith - Lots of screen time but no romantic chemistry with Lee. They had a 1 on 1 but no sparks. Kind of friend zoned
Jena - Not much screen time. Has been on many group dates but a little under the radar. She sounds sweet and funny. I believe she is getting a one on one next week so sparks may fly but it seems to little to late as the viewers do not seem to be invested on her.
Nontombi - Girl is lit! Super friendly and funny but hardly any interaction is shown between Lee and her. May go next week.
Michelle D - No comment. Twitter is asking "who are you?"
Jacqueline - Way too emotional! Cries for everything even when she is not on a group date. Audience does not appear to be into her. She did have an one on one last week with some steamy makeout but audience have had enough of her.
Jozzan - Could be the dark horse. A bit of a fire cracker. In last weeks episode they did a rodeo date and the girls had to ride a mechanical bull. Jozzan's said "I lasted about 3 seconds - a bit like my ex" Only problem here is she has not got an 1 on 1 yet. I believe she does get one (helicopter ride in preview) but like Jena it may be a bit too late. Also her personality does not seem to match Lee's.

At the moment the 2 favorites are Gina and Michelle R. Social media in South Africa seems to love these girls. Lee also seems to have the most chemistry with them. So I sleuthed these 2 girls social media.

Gina
Limo entrance - Romantic music. Lee was VERY interested.
1 on 1 - episode 5 (winner normally gets this week)
1 on 1 - she opened up about Reeva Steamkamp's friendship and her own story of being bullied as a child. So the usual "sob story" is there.
Lee seems to be taken by her
Hot make out session
She seems to tick all the right box

Michelle R
Limo entrance - Romantic music. I have to say here limo entrance was beautiful. Lee was enchanted. I think she literally took his breath away.
First Impression Rose - No surprises there
1 on 1 - Episode 4
1 on 1 - Got diamond earrings
On second episode she got bullied by one of the girls (mainly due to jealousy about the first impression rose, the girl later apologized and they hugged it out). Michelle discussed this with Lee at the cocktail party and he was super supportive. It bought them closer together. He also sent the girl who bullied Michelle home the next day
Her full name is Michelle Reddy. In episode 2 when he gave her a rose at the rose ceremony he said "Miss Reddy, will you accept this rose". It was a very cute moment. They seem to be very giggly with each other.
BUT one thing that seems to be missing is the sexual tension that  he has with Gina. Time will tell if they can reach that

@krish  Enjoying your posts and thank you for the updates!

I believe the bachelor was shot end of October and November last year. Both Gina and Michelle were back on social media about early to mid December. The other girls seem to have come back earlier hence, my reason why I believe these 2 are the final girls.

Interesting post done by Gina 15/01/19

2019 for me is the year of zero procrastination. And a lot more focused hard work. I haven’t been in the best space in the last few months. I took a sabbatical from social media for a while last year. And I took some time this December to be with my friends and my people. I feel like running your own business, and being in charge of your time is one of the best and hardest things to do. I became very despondent for a while. Which has actually been really hard to admit to myself. But I AM BACK!
I am coming out with videos and lots of exciting things. I’m sorry that I have not been on my A game. A lot has been going on. And I generally don’t like to share all things that happen in my life, on social media. SO! Thank you for being patient with me and still supporting me. I will not let you down. #G19 #thisistheyear

This does not seem to be a post from someone who is happily engaged or in a relationship. It almost sounds like someone who was dumped.

Kim who was elimnated in episode 4 was very close to Gina. When she was eliminated she thanked Gina for her friendship in the house via twitter.
Kim did an interview for a magazine after her elimination. You can read the article here
https://www.channel24.co.za/TV/News/this-bachelor-sa-contestant-deliberately-threw-a-spanner-in-the-works-and-it-probably-got-her-evicted-20190321

Notice how she specifically talks about Michelle. It is almost like she is putting both Lee and Michelle down.This is the kind of talk I will give my friend if her boyfriend or guy she likes dumped her for another woman.

Great sleuthing @krish and I agree with your reasoning. I was sure Gina would be F1 from ep 1, but when I found out about her public profile I suspected she was cast for "other reasons".

Makes sense IMO for her to place F2 or 3, get public attention/sympathy, and have a springboard into whatever she decides to do next.  Thanks for posting and please keep us updated

Yes, @Bobette I also agree. Gina looks too "produced". She seems to say the right things at the right time.
I will give an update on what I found out on Michelle's social media. I am actually hoping she won.

krish wrote:Kim who was elimnated in episode 4 was very close to Gina. When she was eliminated she thanked Gina for her friendship in the house via twitter.
Kim did an interview for a magazine after her elimination. You can read the article here
https://www.channel24.co.za/TV/News/this-bachelor-sa-contestant-deliberately-threw-a-spanner-in-the-works-and-it-probably-got-her-evicted-20190321

Notice how she specifically talks about Michelle. It is almost like she is putting both Lee and Michelle down.This is the kind of talk I will give my friend if her boyfriend or guy she likes dumped her fo another woman.

@krish Thanks for all the info. Please keep it coming!

Kim sounds rather full of herself.

@Sprite, you are correct Kim is full of herself. She won the first group date challenge and got to spend quality time with him. During this time you can get the group date rose. They made out but she did not get a rose. I think Lee felt something off about her. He seems to have good intuition at the moment. When he eliminated her in episode 4 most people were happy because she came across arrogant.