After a nail-biting finale — and an unseen tie — Dave Hand and Sophie Willett were crowned the winners of Perfect Match Season 4 by their fellow castmates, but did their romance survive once filming wrapped?
Unfortunately not. Dave has revealed that when he and Sophie left the Perfect Match villa they attempted to make things work, but ultimately the distance was too much of an obstacle, and they decided to be just mates. He explained that immediately after filming of the finale, the whole cast headed back to a different accommodation in Tulum for the night.
“It was like a really long night, and everyone was staying in like a like a little resort thing, so.. we just had a bit of a party, and everyone had their own room. [Sophie and I] went back to the room and had a laugh and filmed a couple TikToks talking about how we won, but we were exhausted and went to sleep,” he told Chattr.
“We had a day or so in Mexico and we went out for dinner, went down the beach, had a few beers, had a talk, and then we went our separate ways — she was going to Paris to celebrate her 30th birthday, and I just went to LA, and then I went back to Melbourne.”
Dave revealed that when he and Sophie spent the day together in Mexico after filming they didn’t make things exclusive.
“We never put a label on it. It’s a hard thing, because it’s like I’ve literally known this person for seven days. That’s the reality of it. I only knew Soph for seven or eight days, and then we won a show and parted ways,” he explained.
Dave raved about Sophie as a person, saying that they’re still “really close” but said the time they spent apart immediately after filming caused their spark to fade.
“We tried, the communication was good [immediately after], and then it’s sort of fizzled out, and so did the hype of the show. You go back to your lives, and there’s the time difference, and you do try and stay connected. But, she had stuff going on, I had stuff going on, and it was just hard to keep that communication, or the buzz alive after meeting someone for eight days. It was, it would have been great to go on the holiday straight away.”
“Life just happens,” he added. “Me and her are close, we talk and everything’s good, but it was just a sort of thing, there’s a whole bloody ocean in between us.
What happened between Perfect Match’s Dave and Sophie on their prize holiday to the Maldives?
The prize on Perfect Match is a holiday for the winning couple to a destination of their choice anywhere in the world. And, despite their dying spark, the pair jetted off to one of the world’s most romantic destinations, the Maldives.
“It was a great holiday. We went to the Maldives, we went over New Years. It was unbelievable, I think it would have cost a lot of money. I think they said they had a budget of $15,000 or something, but it was well, well, well beyond that.”
Dave revealed that shortly after they arrived they had a conversation about where they stood, before anything got weird on the trip.
“When we got to the holiday — like we never really discussed anything beforehand — we sort of went on it,” he revealed. “We ended up obviously catching a flight together to the Maldives on a Seaplane, and we sort of sat down the first day, and I just voiced how I felt. I’m like, ‘Look, I don’t want to lead you on — not lead you on, but like, be intimate this trip, and then we’re just going to separate, and go our separate ways again after it. I feel like that we’re in a good position, I respect you as a, as a friend and I’d love to keep that relationship as a friend and enjoy this trip together as friends.
“And she said, ‘I agree’, she goes, ‘I wasn’t sure what to say to have this conversation. I’m glad you brought it up on the first day.'” He added. “She agreed with everything I said. She thanked me for bringing it up.”
Dave clarified that after their communication dried up post-villa he realised that they weren’t going to work out as a couple in the real world, adding that they spent more time together on the holiday, than they did in the villa.
“I didn’t want to do that trip and pretend — not pretend — but get feelings that are more serious than that should be. We’d already had that drop off of communication after the show, and I’m like, I don’t want to do that again… she’s gonna end up hating me for it. We sort of connected again [as friends], and I’m like, let’s just protect what we have.”
The 37-year-old said that once they’d had their relationship-defining talk, they went on to have a great time in the tropics together.
“We had that conversation, got it out of the way, and we had fun together.”
Where does Perfect Match’s Sophie and Dave’s relationship stand now?
Sophie and Dave’s relationship is completely done, with the Aussie confirming to Chattr that he’s currently single.
The Perfect Match winners are still on good terms, but Dave said he doesn’t think there’s any chance of them rekindling their romance in the future.
“I think I think we would just be friends. Like, she’s a lovely, lovely, lovely person, and I hope she thinks the same as me, but I feel like that to have what we have is super special.
“I would never ever take that for granted. And I think that is just our journey together, and it’s a f**king great one.”
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