In the Bachelorette pad, Alicia Cowan is used to sharing her space with a bunch of single women, but on her “funny farm” in Te Awamutu, The Bachelor New Zealand’s animal lover is surrounded by roomies of the furry kind.
From Rambo the miniature pony to Rusty the ginger pig, the aspiring police officer is mum to 20 pets. But despite the menagerie at her back door, Alicia feels incomplete without a man in her life.
“I still feel lonely,” the 27-year-old confesses to Woman’s Day. “I have everything else together, but I’m missing that final, vital ingredient. I’m three years away from 30 and three animals away from crazy.”
However, Alicia’s hunt for a “surrogate father” to her bustling barnyard brood could soon be over now that she’s met Jordan Mauger. She blushes, “He’s really good-looking, so I was impressed from the start. And he talks about wanting to settle down someday soon, so he already ticks one of my most important boxes.”
Until she gets that all-important kiss from Jordan, Alicia is making do with snuggles from her adorable pony Rambo.
On the hit show, along with a letter, Alicia gifted the handsome leading man a USB loaded with a homemade video and pictures introducing all her animals. She says, “His favourites are Rambo – he wants to ride the pony off into the sunset – as well as my black-bummed pig Bullseye and my three-legged cat Lucy.”
But Alicia insists she’s no crazy cat lady, saying her singledom is down to lack of opportunity to meet guys in her rural hideaway, just south of Hamilton. “There’s not much opportunity for a social life out here, so it did concern me to how I was actually going to meet the man of my dreams.
“But everything I like in a man – maturity, intelligence, a sense of humour and great teeth – so far, the Bachelor has. I’m looking for my best friend, the love of my life, and I can’t wait to find him. I see a lot of potential in Jordan.”
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