Saturday night saw Bachelor and Wallabies fans given the chance to meet and mingle with the famed ‘Honey Badger’ at a Goulburn Workers Club long lunch.

The opportunity however did come with a price, $150 a head or $1400 for a table of ten. For that price, reality TV fans and rugby fans alike got not just Nick Cummins but a two course meal, a three and a half hour open bar, a live auction during the AFL Grand Final as well as some live music.

The event was advertised on Facebook by Goulburn Rugby Club and was eventually sold out. The colloquially written online advertisement read: “Come along and hear from, meet and have a beer with former wallaby Rugby Union player and current star of the Bachelor”. It is reported that the mostly country crowd “gobbled him up” leaving the organisers “seriously impressed”.

The long lunch comes as the Bachelor finale looms closer and media attention on Cummins and the last standing contestants intensifies. Following the lunch Cummins was seen at Brisbane airport, ready to fly to Papua New Guinea where he will be leading a Kokoda Trail Tour.

This is highly unorthodox for contestants on the show who usually are required to be available for media commitments in the wake of the finale. Cummins however will be well out of the media spotlight.

For diehard fans, this move does not bode well for the contestants. Some have highlighted similarities to Bachelor Blake Garvey’s escape from the media during the Season 2 finale as he famously dumped winner Sam Frost for Second runner up Louise Pillidge.

It is reported however that Cummins will be back in Australia and the media spotlight from October 13, once his Kokoda Tour is finished.