“I’d Consider It”: Carlie Hodges on Whether She’s Ready to Be the Next Bachelorette

Last night, I experienced one of the most devastating moments of my entire career as an entertainment journo.

I’m not joking, because, on Thursday’s episode of The Bachelor, Jimmy sent Carlie Hodges home. The same Carlie who EVERYONE was rooting for. She was the total package: Beautiful, brainy, kind and his family loved her.

As I watched his terrible decision unfold, I began screaming at the TV, vowing to never watch this show again for as long as I live (that is a lie, catch my recap next week).

Thankfully, I was able to speak to Carlie myself, and not only did I let her know just how awesome she is, I asked her a couple of questions about what she’s up to next.

POPSUGAR Australia: When you were eliminated, how did you feel about Jimmy at that point?

Carlie Hodges: I was actually very understanding of what he was going through, and I didn’t feel ill towards him at all. I understood he had to make that decision, and obviously, I was sad that he wasn’t choosing me. But he’s such a great guy, that I didn’t feel the need to be angry at him or any kind of negative emotion that was sad. I respect his decision.

PS: Your elimination took everyone by surprise. Were you expecting to go home?

CH: I wasn’t expecting it, but it wasn’t a shock either. I had a bit of a weird emotional few days between Hometowns and the rose ceremony. So, I couldn’t really put my finger on why I was feeling so weird and emotional. So, when I didn’t receive a rose there was a part that felt like, ‘Was this my intuition telling me things weren’t right for me as well?’ So it was a complete shock but I wasn’t shocked at the same time if that makes sense.

PS: How does your family feel about Jimmy? Namely, your brother, after Jimmy chose to not give you a rose?

CH: My family still adores Jimmy, they understand he and I aren’t right for each other. But they also thought he’s a really lovely person and really enjoyed having him around for that day. So there are no ill feelings within my family towards Jimmy at all. They understand this is the way the process has to go, they actually really like him and think he’s a great guy.

PS: Do you have any regrets about your time on the show? Would you do anything differently?

CH: No I don’t think so, I don’t have any regrets. I went in with the mindset “just be me”. If I can’t be anything else other than myself then don’t even try. So, I was proud of who I was in there actually. As you saw, or I’m told, I wasn’t involved in the drama, wasn’t my scene. I stayed in my own lane and did my own thing. I really opened up to Jimmy — you probably didn’t see a huge amount of that — our chats were deep and vulnerable and open. So I was really proud that I got to that position really quickly and I just had an absolute ball. 

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

CH: Well I think it’s pretty obvious through the show that Holly and I have become such close friends, and we were definitely each other’s besties in the mansion. So I’m probably a bit biased but I would love it if it was Holly at the end. She’s just such an amazing person, and not all of the women got to see that unfortunately but I definitely did and I know what she can offer in a relationship just through having such a close friendship with her.

PS: Tell us, what’s up next for you?

CH: Back to life now, back being a lawyer and doing my lawyer things. Just kind of getting back into the swing of things. Obviously, lockdown is limiting, but I’m getting back out there and obviously, I still want love to be on the cards. I’m still single [laughs] — probably because of lockdown. But I’ll never stop searching for my person. 

PS: And finally, there are SO many people calling for you to be the next Bachelorette. Would you do it?

CH: [Laughs] This is crazy. I obviously did not go on The Bachelor to become The Bachelorette, that was not my intention at all. But I guess never say never, right? Australia has really warmed to me and I think maybe Australia actually does want to see women in their 30s find love and these shows don’t just need to be about people in their 20s. So maybe there’s a bit of a demographic there that’s different to what the usual Bachelor franchise is. And if they’re wanting to have a woman in their mid-30s finding love despite having most of her shit together, then yeah if I got a knock on the door I’d consider it.