Alix McDermott, Austinmer bodypainter, is trying to win the heart of the Bachelor

So what would possess you to go on a reality TV show to find yourself a bloke?

That’s the question we’d ask Alix McDermott – artist, former national league netballer, and the Illawarra’s hopeful on Ten’s new season of The Bachelor – if we got the chance to speak to her.

Luckily, the Mercury did. And what did she say? Well, it turns out McDermott wasn’t sure – but once selected, thought she might as well follow it through.

“A friend, who’s been a good wingman for me, forwarded the application though,” she said.

“I never expected to get as far as I did, and when I did, I thought ‘why not?’”

McDermott joins 21 other hopefuls vying to win the heart of this season’s Bachelor, Matty Johnson.

So why had she so far been unable to find The One?

“I think I have been a bit lucky and unlucky,” McDermott said. “I have been very lucky that I have been in love, and unlucky I guess that I hadn’t found somebody who’s going to be my long-term … previous to the show.

“I just am ever-changing – I’m full of surprises, I like to mix up what I’m doing, and I’m always travelling around.”

Romance can be awkward enough in private – but how much harder is it trying to bust your best moves on ol’ bachy boy, when you know it’s all going to be screened on national television?

“It is quite daunting at the start, because you don’t know what you’re expecting,” McDermott said. “But you do get used to it after a while. It is a lot more intimate than I think you expect it’s going to be – but it becomes something you’re not too fazed by in the end; it becomes the normal. It makes some reluctant, and I think it encourages others.”

But what we really to know is: did Alix get a chance to get her paint brushes all over the toned torso of Matty J?

No spoilers here. “I can’t say,” McDermott said.

And what’s more intimidating – getting close to someone with cameras in your face, or knowing your competitors are watching your moves back in the bachelorette pad?

“It’s a bit of both to be honest. You never really stop thinking it is going to be shown again, and you’ll have to watch what happens. I think for me maybe that held me back a couple of times. [But] the other girls were really fantastic, and my close friends in the house were always really supportive.”

Is she concerned about how selective editing can make some contestants into villains?

“It’s something that’s always on your mind, but I definitely stayed myself throughout my period on the show, and that’s something I’m really happy with. Whatever comes out I know I can look at the experience and say that’s exactly how I wanted to be, that’s how I am.”