On Sunday we met The Bachelorette‘s five new intruders and it seems we weren’t the only ones who sat up straight when Mike Bullot walked on set.
“Hello sailor,” was Lesina’s excited response. He ticked all of her boxes on the ‘tall, dark and handsome’ front and then impressed further by revealing he was a former Olympic sailor.
Meanwhile Lily was quick to put down her beer and begin listening intently when Mike told her on their speed date that he’d spent the past 10 months coaching sailing.
But if his sizzling good looks and stellar career weren’t enough to get your attention, how about this: Mike is the former husband of Kiwi celebrity chef Chelsea Winter.
Mike, 35, was married to Chelsea for five years from 2013. Chelsea announced their split in November 2018.
The couple had shared what appeared an idyllic life together but sold their marital home in Pt Chevalier, Auckland and Chelsea moved back to her home town of Mt Maunganui.
She told NEXT magazine at the time, “All of a sudden, I realised that I wasn’t really happy living in Auckland any more. On paper everything was great – it was a nice house in a nice area – but I wasn’t feeling fulfilled.”
Within a few months Chelsea had moved on with former childhood sweetheart and winemaker, Douglas Renall. The couple had their first child, a son Sky, in July 2019, with Chelsea announcing their baby news on social media.
She shared an image of Sky with the caption, “Say hello to little Sky Leonardo Renall ✨ He was born at home as planned, in a hurry to get here (only about 1.5 hours of established labour says my awesome midwife) a healthy bundle of pure deliciousness. Mama and Papa are kind of bamboozled how they somehow created something so perfect. #mindblown. Sending love to all of you – thank you for your support ♥️ Oh, and Mama is doing super well too.”
Mike has so far revealed very little about his former marriage on the show, telling Lily and Lesina only that he had been married for five years, and had been single about 18 months.
“I think we just became different people,” he told Lesina when she asked why they had split.
Apart from “a couple of girls overseas” he hasn’t really dated since his marriage broke up, he said.
For Lesina, that raised alarm bells.
“It’s worrying that he hasn’t dated since his ex wife. Am I his first venture into the dating scene again?” she asked.
In 2014 Mike narrowly missed being placed on the ill-fated Malaysian Airlines flight, MH17, to Kuala Lumpur.
The flight crashed in eastern Ukraine and was rumored to have been shot down by pro-Russian separatists.
He had arrived to check in for the MH17 flight on 16th July – the day before the tragedy but was told that his flight was overbooked and he was put on standby.
WATCH: Mike talks about his close call in the video below.
In a Facebook post he opened up about how lucky he felt to be alive when so many others had lost their lives.
“It’s a good day to be alive. Arriving at check-in for flight MH0017 on the 16th July being told flight was overbooked and I’m placed on standby.
“Standing at gate with some 20-30 other people hoping for a seat and boarding pass. I get mine a few minutes before the gate closes.
“Too many what-ifs to think about right now. Wondering how many of those behind me in line were pushed back a day…”
