The Bachelor
The Bachelor in Paradise alum has met his match
HE WAS UNLUCKY IN LOVE ON SAM Frost’s season of The Bachelorette in 2015 and struggled to find a connection on Bachelor in Paradise earlier this year, but Michael Turnbull has finally fallen in love – and it’s well away from the cameras. Speaking to WHO, the 37-year-old confirms he’s found the one in Melbourne-based real estate agent, Natasha Candyce.
Despite Michael boasting a following of almost 200k fans on Instagram, Natasha, 27, says when she had no idea who Michael was when she met him in January of this year at the opening of a Melbourne restaurant. “I wasn’t even following him!” she says.
The pair went on to secretly date for a total of nine months and while they’ve only been official for a little over a week – they are not afraid to talk about marriage and kids. “I think that’s definitely the plan, if things keep going the way they’re going … It’s not just like this is an overnight relationship, I’ve known Natasha for a while now,” Michael says. The reality TV star reveals he was hesitant to commit at first as he and his girlfriend lived states apart.
“We didn’t want to rush into anything because it is long distance. So we did take a little bit extra time to confirm it. And being in the media spotlight adds more pressure – so Natasha and I wanted to be sure before we came out – until we knew what the situation was.”
Even though Michael says it was “refreshing not to date in front of cameras”, the couple did have a few hiccups along the way as his short-lived stint in Bachelor in Paradise left Natasha feeling insecure when girls would literally throw themselves at her beau. “It would be hard when girls would come up to him and be all flirty. Especially when we made appearances at nightclubs, I couldn’t walk in with him and couldn’t leave with him and was hard for me because obviously girls would think he was single and we had this relationship that was hidden.”
And the real estate agent says he’s mindful he nearly lost his lady when Married at First Sight producers approached her to be a potential contestant on the dating show. “Obviously, Michael and I weren’t together, so I thought why not, it’s probably a great opportunity,” Natasha says. “They flew me up to Sydney to meet with them and after that I had to final with contracts not to say anything. They were going to shoot my back story this weekend, so Michael had to take a decision fairly quickly!”
A choice Michael says he definitely doesn’t regret. “I certainly wouldn’t deny Natasha an opportunity like MAFS if I wasn’t 100 per cent serious. And that was one of the things I had to figure out as well. I just needed to make sure that we were serious and that’s why we’ve made the decision to be a couple and that’s something I’m really happy about.”
The couple are so sure about their future, they’ve discussed moving in together. “I’d be the one making the move to Brisbane,” Natasha says. “Michael’s pretty set up with his own business there so I’d probably join [him] there.” •