In 2023, The Bachelor Australia tried something bold. Three Bachelors, one season, a lot of roses, but not a lot of ratings.
It wasn’t exactly the franchise’s golden era. The season struggled, the format felt chaotic, and it didn’t quite capture the cultural chokehold earlier years had managed.
But plot twist: the three men at the centre of the season — Luke Bateman, Ben Waddell and Wesley Senna Cortes — have somehow all gone on to make it in America.
Let’s break down the glow-up.
From The Bachelor to Bravo
Ben has officially entered his Bravo era thanks to Summer House, and recently popped up on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen looking very comfortable in the clubhouse.
For an Aussie who started out handing out roses on Channel 10, landing in the Bravo universe and thriving is no small feat. That pipeline is notoriously hard to crack. But for Ben, the reality show that started it all still holds a lot of meaning.
“Looking back, being part of The Bachelor helped me grow a lot as a person,” he told PEDESTRIAN.TV. “At that point in my life, I was quite closed off regarding love and the experience really pushed me to open up and put myself out there.”
He says the timing of the show ended up shaping his life in ways he never expected.
“Funny enough, I was actually meant to meet my girlfriend Sabrina before the show while we were both in London, but it never happened. Looking back now, I’m grateful for that timing. If we had met back then, there’s a good chance she wouldn’t have wasted her time with me because I still had a lot of walls up,” he explained.
“Going on the show felt right in my gut at the time, and I’m really glad I trusted that instinct. It helped me grow into someone who was ready for a real relationship.”
Ben said he “couldn’t be happier” with Sabrina, and the pair are now planning a return home.
“Sabrina and I are planning to move back to Australia soon, and my friends and family absolutely adore her,” he added.
The model also said that he’s proud watching his former co-stars carve out their own paths after The Bachelor.
“I’m absolutely over the moon seeing Luke and Wesley doing so well in their own fields. I love seeing people chase what they really want in life; it takes courage to do that,” he said.
“We all shared a pretty unique experience together, and I’ll always have a lot of respect for them. I’m sure at some point we’ll catch up again and it will be great to reflect on where life has taken us all.”
And those paths are pretty interesting.
Making their marks on Hollywood
After finishing runner-up on this year’s season of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, Luke Bateman is reportedly packing up and heading to LA to discuss adaptations of his yet-to-be-released books. Just a quick trip to Hollywood to try and turn his writing into a potential feature film or TV series, no biggie!
Meanwhile, Wesley Senna Cortes told P.TV the reality show made him rethink his direction, both personally and professionally, and he’s since been busy building an acting career.
“I had the honour of working opposite Mark Wahlberg for a couple of days on Prime Video’s Play Dirty, which filmed in Sydney in 2024,” he shared. “He was super generous, sharing some thoughts and wisdom in our downtime.”
He also made his stage debut last year as the lead in Gravity, is currently preparing for his next project with a Sundance-nominated director, and is working with the Brazilian-Australian Film Society to increase representation in the local industry.
“The dream is to keep telling stories that move people and inspire them to keep going despite the challenges,” he said. And after years of building his life in Australia, there’s one milestone Wesley is especially excited about.
“As an immigrant, what I’m most looking forward to is receiving my permanent residency later this year,” he said. “I love this country and can’t wait to call Australia home.”
Wesley said he’s “really proud” to have represented Brazilian culture in Australia as the first Brazilian lead on the reality show, and he’s “genuinely happy” seeing his former co-stars succeed.
“We were not the kind of guys who would have been in similar circles and probably never [would have] met if it wasn’t for the show,” he confessed.
“Luke was always reading on set. I think he finished four or five books in five weeks, which was inspiring while we were filming crazy hours. Reading is in such decline these days, so it’s great to see more voices encouraging it.”
The 2023 season of The Bachelor was labelled a ratings disappointment. It didn’t produce a sweeping love story, it wasn’t particularly celebrated, and at the time, it felt like the franchise was wobbling.
But fast forward to 2026, and all three leading men have leveraged that platform into something much bigger in very different ways. Not locally. Internationally.
They may not have found “the one” on reality TV, but they’ve achieved US industry interest — which, let’s be honest, is arguably harder to secure.
There’s something kind of poetic about a so-called flop season quietly producing three exports. Bravo celebrity, Hollywood meetings, Mark Wahlberg film set. Not bad for a season most people wrote off.
The roses didn’t last, but their careers apparently did.
Obsessed with reality TV? Check out PEDESTRIAN.TV‘s new podcast Villain Edit, where we unpack all the wild, chaotic and messy moments from your favourite shows. Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.
