Network Ten has announced its newest Bachelor for its upcoming season, moving away from recent contestants who had previous public profiles.
Astrophysicist Matt Agnew will take on the role as the Bachelor for 2019, a deviation from last year's season which featured former Wallaby and international Rugby Union player Nick "The Honey Badger" Cummins.
The decision by Ten is a deviation from previous strategies, which has seen Ten choose individuals who had either been famous, such as Cummins and TV personality Sophie Monk, or had already appeared on the program, such as former contestants Sam Frost and Ali Oetjen.
Another reason behind the decision to go back to the 'traditional' selection could also be the second season of Bachelor in Paradise, which also airs this year, and sees former Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants "find love" in an exotic location.
“Matt brings spades of old school romance back to The Bachelor. He’s a bachelor with natural charm and intelligence but with a definite twinkle in his eye," Network Ten executive producer The Bachelor Australia said.
“Matt will be a breath of fresh air to be around. He comes from such an interesting and different world but is still a humble and down to earth Aussie man who really just wants to find the love of his life.”
The seventh season of The Bachelor Australia will follow Agnew on his "exciting adventure", with long-time host, Osher Günsberg returning.
Last year's season was the best ratings performance for the series to date, with the premiere drawing in 940,000 overnight viewers and the "shock finale", which saw Cummins chose no one, drew 1.2 million.
Sophie Monk's season was also a ratings hit with the premiere and finale drawing in 951,000 and 1.6m viewers, respectively.
Conversely, last year's series of The Bachelorette was one of its lowest rated, with its finale having the worst performance for the series to date.
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