When Arthur Green denied Dani Robinson his final red rose, dashing her hopes for a wedding and babies, the future looked bleak for the jilted Bachelorette. But after that emotional scene on The Bachelor NZ finale, almost 12 months ago, the 23-year-old picked herself up, brushed herself off and learnt from the heartbreaking experience.
“It’s been almost a year, which has really got me thinking about how different my life is and all the challenges I’ve overcome,” says Dani, looking sun-kissed and sexy at our exclusive shoot.
“Matilda and Art make such a great couple, they are going so strong and you can see they really love each other. It’s really cool knowing Art made the right decision and everyone has come out of that situation better off. I didn’t realise it then, but he followed his heart and it paid off.”
I’m so excited!
With the break-up behind her, ever-optimistic Dani is moving on to bigger and better things – starting with a new adventure living and working in London. “An opportunity came up to transfer to the UK and because I’m the unattached one with no kids, it was easy for me to up and leave,” says Dani, an account manager at her dad’s interior acoustics company. “I will be responsible for helping establish an independent marketing team there, which is kind of scary, and my new boss has already warned me that it won’t be easy.
“But I know it’s going to be such a cool experience. I started working straight out of university, so I’ve never really travelled before. I’m ready for all the new challenges it will bring.
“I’ll definitely miss New Zealand. I’ve always been the biggest advocate of Auckland, raving on about the beaches, the nightlife, the great food, coffee and the people. I have my family, friends and a house here –it will always be my home. People say once you go to London, you’ll fall in love and never come back, but I can’t see that happening.”
People also say, tells Dani, that an OE in the Queen’s backyard can leave you on the porky side, a fate the dedicated gym bunny refuses to settle for. “I’m not going to get fat,” she says with conviction. “I’ve already sussed a weights gym and a boxing gym that are close to where I’m living in London so, as soon as I land, I’ll have no excuse not to exercise. I’ve worked too hard for too long to be overweight and unhealthy.”
Indeed, the Dani we know today is a lean, mean machine. Toned, trim and fit as a fiddle, the bubbly blonde – who fought and won in a celebrity boxing match last year – works out six times a week and eats a dairy-free diet with no processed foods or sugar.
But Dani hasn’t always looked and felt this way. Only four years ago, as a student in Dunedin, the pint-sized bundle of energy had gained an unwanted 12kg, due to all-day drinking sessions and late-night binges on potato wedges. But she ditched the excess baggage upon moving back to Auckland, where she overhauled her diet and exercise.
“It’s been trial and error for me since I left uni, learning how to be healthy, how to be fit and what regime works for my body. I lacked motivation and discipline when I was studying, and I went through a hard time in my teen years, when two of my best friends passed away, which left me with a lot of anxieties.
“But once I left Dunedin and moved back to Auckland, a switch flicked and I decided to stop worrying about stuff I couldn’t control, stop putting crap into my body and start doing something for myself.”
For all the positive changes in her life, there’s one downside to Dani’s healthy, active lifestyle that she’s always been conscious of – her flat chest. So this year, she made the decision to have a breast enhancement.
Struggling to maintain some curves and still stay fit, Dani decided a breast enhancement was the answer.
Feels sexier!
She explains, “I got a big B-cup, small C-cup,” she says of her breast augmentation. “It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while. I had my first consultation when I was 20. It’s not that I was unhappy before – I feel just as good without boobs – but it’s nice to counteract the downside of being fit.
“I definitely feel more feminine and curvy. I’m still learning how to dress for them and how not to show them off. Usually I’d walk around in a bikini everywhere, but now I feel like everyone’s staring at me. Everything in my wardrobe just looks sexier on me now.”
But while the new year has brought Dani a new home, a new job and a new bod, the question on everyone’s lips is whether or not 2016 will be the year she finds a new man?
“I’m single. I just want to make that clear,” says Dani, who’s been romantically linked to The X Factor NZ judge Shelton Woolright. “I have been dating and testing the waters. But ever since I found out I was moving, finding someone hasn’t been a priority.”
Besides, she adds, “I’m enjoying being single, I feel the happiest I’ve ever been.”
The naturally flat-chested blonde is now a C-cup.
Watch: Behind the scenes of our Bachelorette bikini shoot
