Straight talk from the three stars of The Bachelor in 2023

The show is making its way to the Gold Coast to deliver triple the romance instead of Sydney - its home for nine seasons. Three leading men is a world-first, as is the show's debut in the sunshine state. The 2021 season recorded the lowest ratings of them all, which has perhaps prompted this shake-up.

In terms of success stories, we have had three couples tie the knot, six children born, and two couples get engaged. From the promotions, only two bachelors will pop the question.

So whose love stories will we follow in the tenth season?

Perhaps it is 27-year-old Felix Von Hofe from Melbourne - a former basketball player, who now works in marketing with Sportsbet. Or it could be Jed McIntosh, a 25-year-old Melbournite, drummer, and songwriter for alternative-pop band Mood Monroe? Then there's the Italian-born Thomas Malucelli, a 36-year-old former hospitality manager from Sydney, who works in the wellness space as a transformation specialist and lifestyle entrepreneur.

I had the opportunity to speak to the bachelors over Teams, where they sat together in Channel 10's Sydney studio. It is clear they got along and enjoyed the shared experience. Perhaps that was the real love story - their bromance!

What was a must to bring with you?

Thomas: For me, it was definitely books...I was reading The Way of the Superior Man, which was perfect for the environment and the context. I read Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, then Becoming Supernatural. This was really important for me to maintain my mental health and stay grounded during such a time-stressful experience...no matter what I'm doing or where I am, I have to move my body, read and meditate, so I would even wake up at 5am or 4.30 if I had to.

Jed: Mine was a drum kit, which they supplied, which was beautiful. I didn't get it for a couple of weeks and I nearly lost my mind, didn't I boys?

Felix: What did I bring? Oh yeah, I absolutely demolished Tim Tams, I gained six kilos throughout the show. So you'll notice that the topless scenes really start to fade off as we go toward the end because I just kept eating Tim Tams the entire time.

Felix, who was the best and worst-dressed?

Felix: Because I like the style, I'd go Jed as best dressed, you got to have the confidence and the look to pull some of those outfits off. Wait til you see some of the rose ceremonies, some of the most unbelievable outfits. I'd go Tommy as second-best dressed because you can put him in anything off the rack, and it's perfect. Whereas with me, I was sort of dressed like an ill-fitting dad (Jed and Thomas laugh) half the time...I definitely put myself last in that one.

Thomas, who is the cheekiest?

Thomas: I mean, both Felix and Jed are pretty cheeky. I'm gonna say both of them, to be honest, I can't really give you a straight answer. They are both really funny, they're both witty-

Felix: How about the person who stuck a Felix name tag to your back for the entire day? (Felix removes a paper from the back of Thomas' shirt).

Thomas: There you go, you got the answer, Felix.

Jed, the promotion shows someone denying your rose, what has it been like watching it?

Jed: I think it's fine. I think the team is doing a great job, and to be honest, they're just saying what happened...I think the girls, if they don't want to accept a rose or continue something, then they're gonna let it be known, and I think that's a great thing. It's not just up to us to make decisions.

Did the experience exceed your expectations?

Jed: In every single way. I think the amount of self-realisation and growth that we all had individually, the amazing women that were on there, the feelings that were actually had, and the natural occurrence of those feelings, was something that shocked me.

Felix: I didn't have a huge amount of dating experience going into the show, I've never really had a proper girlfriend or anything like that, I never felt that I'd really needed one. I think leaving, I realised that there...are a lot of things that I do by myself or with other people that I'd love to have a partner by my side with. It opened up...a lot more emotional sides than I thought I originally had. I've always been a stoic person in terms of I don't really cry, or do any of that sort of stuff, but they got me, they got me eventually.

Tom: The first thing that comes to mind for me is trusting always my heart and not my head when I make decisions. I went on the show to grow and I was put in situations where I really had to grow and it was just awesome.