The Bachelor star Romy Poulier was forced to change her identity after getting the ‘villain edit’ three years ago – here’s what she looks like now
A former Bachelor star who copped the ‘villain edit’ three years ago has revealed how she rebuilt her life after becoming one of Australia’s most hated women.
Actress Romy Poulier was accused of leading a trio of ‘mean girls’ and bullying the other contestants on Nick ‘The Honey Badger’ Cummins’ season in 2018.
She has almost completely changed her identity since then, keeping her name but changing her looks significantly and taking a step back from her acting career.
Transformation: A former Bachelor star who copped the ‘villain edit’ three years ago has revealed how she rebuilt her life after becoming one of Australia’s most hated women. Pictured: The Bachelor 2018 stars (L-R) Brittany Hockley, Romy Poulier and Emily Dibden
These days, she sports chocolate brown hair, rarely attends red carpet events and has managed to successfully dodge the tenacious paparazzi.
Romy, 32, told Stellar on Friday she hadn’t expected to find love on The Bachelor but had hoped it would be ‘a bit of a fun experience’.
Unfortunately, she ended up being portrayed as the ringleader of a group of bullying girls – including jewellery designer Cat Henesey and Labor Party staffer Alisha Aitken-Radburn – but insists the reality was very different to what was shown on TV.
Remember her? Actress Romy Poulier was accused of leading a trio of ‘mean girls’ and bullying the other contestants on Nick ‘The Honey Badger’ Cummins’ season in 2018
New look: She has almost completely changed her identity since then, keeping her name but changing her looks significantly and taking a step back from her acting career. Pictured left on The Bachelor, and right in a recent Instagram photo
Changes: These days, she sports chocolate brown hair, rarely attends red carpet events and has managed to successfully dodge the tenacious paparazzi. Pictured on Thursday
She said her snide remarks about the other women in the mansion were fed to her by producers with the promise they would make her look ‘cheeky and fun’.
‘It’s my fault. That’s what I’m most upset about. I never saw myself as an easily manipulated person,’ she said.
‘At the end of the day it was my behaviour [but] I just wish I’d stuck to my values and morals and said, “F**k you, I’m not saying that.”‘
Manipulated: Romy was portrayed as the ringleader of a group of bullying girls – including jewellery designer Cat Henesey (right) and Labor Party staffer Alisha Aitken-Radburn (centre) – but insists the reality was very different to what was shown on TV
Prompted: She told Stellar on Friday her snide remarks about the other women in the mansion were fed to her by producers with the promise they would make her look ‘cheeky and fun’
Romy revealed she was ashamed of herself and ‘felt sick’ watching the show on TV, and ended up becoming ‘a hermit’ afterwards.
She had been a working actress before The Bachelor, even appearing on Home and Away, but stopped auditioning after being labelled the ‘villain’.
As the backlash against her reached fever pitch, she even tried to claim producers had hired her as an actress to stir up trouble in the mansion – an allegation Channel 10 strongly denied.
Shying away from the spotlight: She had been a working actress before The Bachelor, even appearing on Home and Away, but stopped auditioning after being labelled the ‘villain’
Regardless, Romy is now preparing to return to the spotlight in Australian horror film The Possessed, which also stars John Jarratt and Lincoln Lewis.
‘The film was reaffirming for me,’ she told Stellar. ‘It cleared any doubts and made me realise [acting] is what I’m meant to be doing.’
The new season of The Bachelor, starring former model-turned-airline pilot Jimmy Nicholson, just started production in Sydney.
Comeback: Romy is now preparing to return to the spotlight in Australian horror film The Possessed, which also stars John Jarratt and Lincoln Lewis