Sussex star of Channel 5’s The Bachelor opens up about the ‘very strange world’ of reality TV

A ‘Sussex girl through and through’ who went looking for love on Channel 5 has opened up about her experience.
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Charlotte Tyler, 30, from Worthing, appeared on the latest series of The Bachelor, finishing in second place during the final episode last Thursday,

The Bachelor sees 15 single ladies compete for the affections of one lucky hunk – this season’s prize dish was 31-year-old personal training business owner Alex Marks.

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After a long time as a singleton while she set up her own performing arts business, Charlotte said she thought she would give the show a chance in the hope of finding love.

Charlotte Tyler SUS-190320-135102001Charlotte Tyler SUS-190320-135102001
Charlotte Tyler SUS-190320-135102001

“I was really unlucky in love and had been single for quite a long time,” said the classical singer.

“Someone asked if I was single on social media and offered me the chance to enter The Bachelor. I ‘ummed and aad’ as I have my own business, but I spoke to my mum and she said ‘just go for it’. So I thought ‘why not?’ and took a leap of faith.”

Producers decided to hold Charlotte back from the original cohort of contestants, opting instead to throw her in during the latter stages as a dramatic twist.

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She joined the six other girls vying for Alex’s affections and admitted the intense environment, all played out in a vineyard mansion in South Africa, led to some tension as the girls ‘lived in each other’s pockets’.

Charlotte with the bachelor Alex MarksCharlotte with the bachelor Alex Marks
Charlotte with the bachelor Alex Marks

No contact was allowed with the outside world, not even with family, for the eight week filming period.

She described reality television as a ‘very strange world’, requiring a huge amount of mental stability to deal with the pressure and exposure.

Still, she said, she had made some friends for life, which she was not expecting, and described the experience as ‘incredible’.

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Filming finished in November last year, but the series only aired in Match, leaving Charlotte with an agonising wait to see how she would come across.

Charlotte Tyler SUS-190320-135029001Charlotte Tyler SUS-190320-135029001
Charlotte Tyler SUS-190320-135029001

“I was nervous because you know with TV that sometimes it depends on how people portray you. I was worried about how people would judge me, but I thought that people aren’t always going to like you, so I just went with it,” she said.

An odd quirk of the reality TV world meant that contestants were forbidden from talking to the bachelor off-camera, in order to maintain the natural feel of the televised dates.

Even so, Charlotte said she made a genuine connection with Alex, and saw him as somebody she could date in the real world.

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Despite Alex appearing to return Charlotte’s affections, it unfortunately was not to be as he opted for Alicia Oates as his chosen partner. The pair featured in national media this week refusing to confirm their ‘relationship status’.

Away from The Bachelor, and a Britain’s Got Talent appearance with her classical singing quartet Zyrah Rose, Charlotte runs her own performance arts academy out of Thomas a Becket Junior School, called CMT Performing Arts Academy.

While she has not ruled out further television appearances, she said her priority was seeing her business thrive.

She said: “I’m a Sussex girl through and through. I was living in London and wanted to open a school but I thought it would be great to open one in Worthing.

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“My business is really important to me so I’m going to focus on that and if opportunities arrive, I would think about them, but at the moment I need to focus on my students.”

Some filming did take place in Worthing, with the pavilion making an appearance on the show. Her students were also filmed performing at Thomas a Becket, but unfortunately did not make the final cut.

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