The Bachelor’s Bella Varelis is finally able to speak freely and own her truth now the show is over – and Locky Gilbert isn’t coming across great.

Chatting on Laura Byrne and Brittany Hockley’s Life Uncut podcast this week, the 26-year-old revealed that Locky teased he was going to propose to her during the finale – which obviously led her to believe she was going to win.

Before then, er, dumping her instead.

She also confirmed that Locky did indeed tell her he was ‘in love’ with her several times, despite him now claiming that he only ever told Bella he was ‘falling in love’ with her.

Here’s what Locky told Bella off-camera, mostly over text:

‘[Locky] did actually say “I love you” – straight up. And I said it too. During lockdown we were talking about engagement rings and he asked, “What would you do if I proposed to you at the end?” I think the one that really got me was when he said to me, “I can’t wait to make you happy for the rest of your life”. You don’t say that to someone unless you really want that. I remember saying to my mum, “I think I’ve found the person who actually wants to be with me”.’

Here’s what happened between them during lockdown:

‘Once we all got home [following the coronavirus shutdown], there was about two days before a producer called me. It was a Monday morning and I remember it so vividly. They said you’d have one FaceTime [with Locky] a week, two days where you can text each other freely with unlimited messages and one voice call … our first chat was like a two minute call, and then we had a FaceTime for five hours. The schedule went out the window and we were talking every day. He actually said to me, “I want to talk to you as much as I can. Don’t worry about only calling me on Tuesdays, or whatever”. I kept this from producers for the first few weeks because I didn’t want to get Locky into trouble … I didn’t tell the girls because I didn’t want to rub it in … He told me I was the only one he was talking to every day. Bec [Cvilikas, co-star] has since said that Locky also told her she was the only one he was talking to everyday.’

And here’s what happened after filming the finale in July:

‘I sent him a message, I haven’t told anyone that. I did send him a message after just to be like, I mean, it was like two days after, I was devastated, I was shattered, I was upset, I was angry. It was a pretty angry text, to be honest. The first part was like I feel like I’ve lost my best friend not just my boyfriend. It was a relationship for me.’

For more of Bella’s (very revealing) chat, listen to the latest episode of Life Uncut podcast.

Seriously, you won’t regret it.