Darcy greets him with a smile and without really thinking says, ‘Having fun?’

Ty stalls, running his hands through his hair, and gives her a little look as though to say not so much.

Poor Samara will be going home at the next key ceremony.

Darcy offers a sympathetic smile. It’ll be over soon. ‘Ben shouldn’t be too long.’ He’s over at the van, sending through footage he’s already taken so the editors can use it as a teaser at the end of tonight’s episode. Thankfully it only has to be a quick grab because there won’t be much to choose from. Darcy’s already texted Mel saying they’re going to need extra footage of the girls in the mansion to pad out tomorrow night’s episode. It was stupid for Samara to get this one-on-one. But Alice had insisted on Samara after seeing how competitive she’d been on the athletics carnival group date. Alice is trying to secure a sports brand sponsorship deal and is confident that Samara is the right kind of incentive.

‘Have you got a boyfriend?’

Darcy’s thrown by Ty’s sudden question. ‘Yeah,’ she tells him and then remembers that isn’t completely accurate and holds up her hand. ‘Engaged actually.’

‘Congrats.’

‘Thanks.’ She looks down at her ring and twists it back and forth. She hasn’t even spoken to Drew today. After all the years they’ve lived together, their engagement feels nothing like she thought it would. When they first moved in together he used to drive her crazy by never replacing the toilet paper and always putting the carton back in the fridge with only a teaspoon of milk left and she couldn’t stand that he would take his clothes off for a shower and leave them on the floor at the entrance of the bathroom. But as the years passed she’s either trained him or learned to tolerate his habits. She misses him being away, she misses the companionship, the conversation, their hands touching while they sleep.

‘Where’d you meet him?’

Darcy’s surprised he’s bothering to ask her questions. He’s currently dating ten girls, so he really doesn’t need to worry about getting to know her.

‘High school.’

He nods, somewhat disappointed. ‘I went to an all-boys school.’ His chances of meeting a girl were clearly limited.

‘Yeah.’ She feels a bit weird that she already knows this because of all the background research she’s done. She probably knows more about him than she does most of her friends.

‘Do you really think you can meet “the one” on a reality TV show?’ This question is quite common for the suitor. The situation is constantly overwhelming, and they start doubting themselves, the girls and also the whole premise of the show.