“I Should Have Walked Out”: The Bachelor’s Laura on That Awkward Date With Jimmy

She was hilarious and down-to-earth, but unfortunately, on Thursday night’s episode of The Bachelor, Laura O’Loughlin was sent home.

As the competition gets increasingly harder, Laura said she knew her time had come.

And now with frontrunner Brooke back in the mansion, it’s difficult to predict exactly who will be the last woman standing.

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POPSUGAR Australia had the opportunity to speak to Laura about her biggest regret and how she manages to keep a straight face during those intense rose ceremonies.

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

Laura O’Loughlin: I definitely didn’t harbour any negative thoughts regarding being eliminated. I think I saw it coming. I did have a chat with him that night, where I did say to him “look, we’re getting towards hometown now, I want you to really think if you want me there before I introduce you to my family.”

I think I was very direct with him, and after all the drama that happened at the [cocktail party]. Obviously, Brooke came back, Lily had a big meltdown, I did kind of think “oh, it’s me going home”. I wasn’t surprised and I know you didn’t get to see it either but Jimmy did say some nice words to me before I left. It was nice, a nice smooth exit. No speed bumps.

PS: Speaking of Brooke, how did you feel about her return?

LO: I definitely wasn’t surprised. They had a strong connection, she was always going to come back. The gap was more surprising because in real-time it was almost three weeks that she was gone, so that was a long time in The Bachelor mansion. So that was kind of surprising, we were all like “oh if Brooke was to come back she would have come back by now” instead of it just coming up like “yup! Here’s Brooke.”

So, it was a little bit of a surprise, but for me, it was more like “oh, Brooke’s back, I’m gone” *laughs* so that was a very real thing that kind of hit me when I looked around and realised he had strong connections with everyone and I just didn’t think we were there. 

PS: What was running through your mind during the rose ceremony?

LO: The whole rose ceremony I was thinking “it’s probably going to be me” and then when it came down to me and Jay, I was like it’s definitely me. There’s no way I’m staying over Jay, who of course, in my mind at that time was a frontrunner and I think at that point I was putting my brave face on and thinking, “okay Laura, he’s not going to say your name. Osher is about to come in and say his little whisper piece.”

So I was just mentally preparing for that.  That was one of the harder parts when Osher came in. Every time Osher said anything I cracked a joke, I think I was the bane of Osher’s existence for the whole series. So, when he said “you didn’t receive a rose” it was hard not to make a joke. Like “oh, you don’t say!?” and I looked down at my empty hands, like I’m well aware of that Osher, thank you. 

PS: I’m glad you mentioned cracking a joke during the ceremony because every time I watch it and hear Osher’s “whisper voice” I always wonder, how do you girls not laugh?

LO: *laughs* I think the first night, hearing it for the first time, it was very hard not to laugh. But it really hits you, like “we’re here, we’re in a rose ceremony” on The Bachelor and Osher just said that. And it’s really hard not to laugh and even the night I left, I really wanted to laugh. But lucky they have plenty of footage of your serious face so even if you did laugh it would be no big deal.

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

LO: I wouldn’t say I have a ton of regrets. I think watching back, it was all very me. I do regret pulling some of the faces, I was like “Laura, why are you always making a face!? Like, stop!” All the other girls were so smiley, beautiful and natural and I’m like poking my tongue out. I always have this weird pulled face, and I’m like Jesus, keep it together Laura! That would be my one thing, I needed a mirror with me at all times just to make sure I was not making weird faces.

I think the single date with Jimmy is a slightly obvious one. At that point, when that whole tragic car accident happened, I definitely felt like I should have walked out then. But you didn’t get to see the whole conversation, as he was very reassuring towards me and he made a very good argument. He said he didn’t want to come across as a playboy, and he’s kissed a lot of girls and he knows it’s coming across badly. So he kind of just insinuated he wanted to take things more seriously. But watching it back it’s like “oh god, Laura RUN.” 

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

LO: That is a really good question! I definitely feel like I’ve had to gain a lot more self-confidence. Having to watch it back was definitely challenging and I became more self-conscious in the initial stages, like “oh, god I look terrible!” Or “I hate that dress.” But as the show went on and I saw so much positive feedback on social media it kind of boost my confidence a little bit, which was really nice, because I think I do have a habit of self-deprecating. It’s probably a little bit sad that I needed social media to do that for me but I think I started to realise I’m not seeing myself the way other people are seeing me.

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

LO: Ooh I don’t know! I’m actually a little bit stumped. I really hope it’s Jay, she is the most authentic, beautiful person I have ever met. That’s the only outcome that will have me cheering.

PS: Tell us, what’s up next for you?

LO: So, I’m obviously up in Adelaide, I’m doing a full heritage restoration of my house. So that’s taken up pretty much all of my time, and it’s a big job. I’m doing a lot of it myself and I’ll probably be posting about it on the ‘gram.