The Bachelor’s Stephanie Opens Up About Being the Villain and Her Secret Instagram Account

Fans of The Bachelor have been waiting for this moment since the show first began: Stephanie Lynch leaving the mansion.

Since the very first episode, Stephanie dominated screen time, as her antics and questionable behaviour left people wanting more. From hating pilots to throwing her fellow contestants under the bus, Stephanie became the resident villain on The Bachelor Australia 2021.

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But last night, it all came to an end, after Jimmy confronted her about her behaviour and sent her packing. When asked by producers if she was okay, Steph responded: “Am I okay? Yeah, dude. I’m f****** ecstatic. I would marry my ex a thousand times before I would get with Jimmy.”

POPSUGAR Australia was given the opportunity to speak with Steph, and we made sure to ask the hard questions.

POPSUGAR Australia: When you left the show, it was claimed you were still hung up over your ex. Is that true?

Stephanie Lynch: Absolutely not. I really don’t know where that narrative came from. Obviously, I spoke quite highly of him at the lunch with Susan so apologies for actually thinking nicely of my ex in 2021. I didn’t realise that was a crime.

PS: Considering you hated pilots, why did you decide to continue with the show knowing Jimmy was a pilot?

SL: They play me strutting about and throwing down “oh, f****** pilots” and all this stuff but they also don’t show me going “oh, they know my weakness and they set me up here, they stitched me up, they know I love pilots.” I don’t think I ever explicitly said I hate pilots, I was just slagging them off. 

PS: Do you believe you were portrayed fairly throughout the show?

SL: Oh, *laughs*, fairly. That’s a good word. I think what you see as the audience is one exaggerated aspect of my personality. Which is basically just me being a d***head, and a lot of nice and endearing things that I said that the audience would empathise with, just never make the screen. And that’s fine, I’ve loved being the villain, it’s been hilarious.

PS: This season, it was evident you were the “villain”. How have you been dealing with the backlash?

SL: It made me realise how thick-skinned I am, because they wanted to really protect us this year from the trolls. But I just go on to Twitter and I read all of it, and everyone’s like “oh, I hope Steph’s reading this and she’s ashamed of her disgusting behaviour” and I’m like “that’s funny Karen because I just don’t care.”

And then I go, “ooh there might be more juicy comments on Facebook, I’ll go read those”, they just crack me up. I don’t take it as an offence on me personally because you just see this portrayal of this character on a show basically, and it’s just entertainment, right? 

PS: Jimmy has basically insinuated that you took part in the show for Instagram followers. What do you have to say to him?

SL: I couldn’t even figure out if he was referring to me because like, have you looked at my Instagram? It’s not very influencer worthy. My posts are just garbage. It was actually never about Instagram fame for me and I’m quite open in my distaste for influencers in general, so yeah, it’s not the vibe but thanks Jimmy for casting assumptions on me, that’s cool! 

PS: Speaking of Instagram, is it true you have a secret Instagram account?

SL: *Laughs* I don’t know what you’re talking about. 

PS: We know you weren’t a part of this episode, but who do you think is telling the truth in the Tahnee and Jay drama?

SL: It’s funny because I obviously know both of the girls and Tahnee just looks so earnest in what she thinks she heard. I genuinely believe that she thinks she heard that. But I also know Jay well enough to know that that’s not something she would ever say. I think Tahnee might have just misheard something from someone else. I do not believe that Jay would have ever said or thought that. 

PS: What have you taken away from this entire experience?

SL: I think the ability to just have a laugh at it. It’s been good fun,  I actually had a guy come up to me at the pub the other week and he went “Oh my God, I love you. My mum hates you, but I love you” *laughs* and to me, that makes it all worth it. 

PS: Who do you think will be the last woman standing?

SL: I really hope it’s Jay. I genuinely don’t know the outcome but I hope it’s Jay. I think they’re the most compatible, they have the most chemistry and she is just a beautiful person inside and out. She’d be my pick.

PS: Tell us, what’s up next for you?

SL: Just carry on with my normal life. I definitely won’t be doing any “influencing” much to ah, Jimmy’s disappointment I’m sure. Back to my regular stuff.