"I saw the honey badger, and became fascinated," he said. "It is just so aggressive and will never say die. One of the stories which inspired me is that it is documented that a honey badger killed a male lion in a one-on-one battle. "What happened was that he clawed the canastas off the big fella, going the old one-two. The big fella walked around the corner and fell over. The honey badger got up, shook himself, and just trotted off. For me, that was outstanding." Cummins is seen as a clever choice after the success of Sophie Monk on last year's season of The Bachelorette. Her debut episode netted a record number of viewers for both The Bachelorette and The Bachelor. Cummins also has a popular Instagram account with more than 250,000 followers. He regularly keeps people updated on his fishing trips, workout routines and overseas adventures with deadpan humour.

Born in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Nick grew up in Queensland with his father and siblings. Nick’s career saw him celebrate a 15 Test match career with the Australian Wallabies, play a season with the Australian Sevens, earn a Commonwealth Games silver medal, and play with the Western Force and overseas in Japan. He has written two books about his life (a third book is in the works) and recently he was signed by Netflix to co-host season three of Ultimate Beastmaster shot in Los Angeles (to be released mid-2018). He has also co-developed and starred in National Geographic Channel’s Meanwhile in Australia… which will be launched this year and was the face of Tourism Australia’s global youth campaign Aussie News Today!. Nick Cummins in the Tourism Australia campaign. The announcement won't come as a surprise to Nova FM listeners after Fitzy and Wippa interviewed a man who claimed to be Cummins' housemate earlier this week. The man, who went by the name James, said deciding to go on national TV was a "massive" undertaking for someone who was otherwise quite shy.

"He's a very private dude," he said. "I don't know what I can say and what I can't." Network Ten executive producer of The Bachelor Australia, Hilary Innes, said: "We are

delighted that Nick has agreed to be Australia’s next Bachelor. "He will bring a refreshing, honest and cheeky energy to season six. On top of all his incredible achievements, he is both loveable and surprising. I know he will be a phenomenal Bachelor." In a statement, Cummins said: "I’m really looking forward to throwing everything at this opportunity to finding the one. "The past 10 or so years has been on the road playing rugby or working on my projects, so I’m very excited to be part of a show that is centred around love and good times."