They saying 'never to meet your heroes; it will only lead to disappointment' is one I previously stood firmly behind.
Until today.
Getting to meet eliminated Bachelorette Lily was a dream I've had for weeks.
The 20-year-old snowboard instructor wasn't one of the clear standouts at the beginning of The Bachelor NZ's third season, but her sass and love for dropping a gag quickly threw her up the ranks - in Zac's eyes, in mine and in our eyes, as a nation.
Down to the final two, the thigh-high booted beauty said it wasn't easy "getting dumped on national television". This comes after posting on Instagram on Sunday in which she called her television debut a "whole twisted experience".
Chatting with me today, she expanded on that sentiment, saying life inside the Bachelor mansion was like "being in a cult - but a good cult".
"It was a little bit weird coming out into the real world and being like 'woah, I can do my own groceries'," she said.
"It's hard to get used to being back in normal society [and] it's hard to really care about someone and then get dumped on national television."
Lily explained when she said "twisted" she meant it "in a good way".
"I like things to be a little bit twisted, straight's kinda boring."
What apparently wasn't boring was living in the oestrogen-soaked mansion with all the other Bachelorettes. We saw drama unfold between so many of the girls, so I had to know - was Lily involved behind the scenes?
No is the simple answer. In fact, she called the cattiness and name-calling as "piss poor excuse for drama".
"I wanted to see some real beef. I was like 'throw a punch', but nobody did, so that was disappointing".
"My approach was just not to get into it."
Not long into our conversation, I completely forgot I was interviewing Lily. It felt like we were just two girls out having a drink and a chat - so I pushed for more gossip, wanting to know if any of the women maybe hit the free-flowing bubbles at the cocktail parties a little hard.
"Katey did," Lily responded quickly.
"Katey got smashed a few times, I got smashed a few times but I'm pretty good at keeping it together.
"We did get cut off a few nights and get put on the lolly water."
Lily isn't holding any bad blood between her and Zac, saying "they've had some chats", and it's not weird.
"We're mates... I just give him a cheeky slap every now and then."
Wait. What?
"That sounded so sexual - we don't do that," she quickly clarified.
As much as Lily kept composed and cool on television, she says "I don't think any breakup could top that".
"You're not fully committed to them or attached to them so you're like 'well I never really had them', - it makes it easier in that respect.
"But yeah, I'm just hoping it never has to be that public again."
This does not bode well for my #Lily4Bachelorette petition, but I thought I would ask her anyway.
"I haven't considered [that] yet, it's something I'd have to think about - but I think it could be a good time," she laughed.
A whole season of Lily? I'd have to lie down.
She says though that she's "not actively seeking" love right now, but isn't closed to the idea.
"Yeah I'm not too sure... [Someone] might slide into my DMs."
Lily, after meeting you in the flesh I'm more enamoured than ever. At the very least, I'm hoping some of your coolness might have rubbed off on me in those precious 19 minutes we spent together.
But after reading this back, nah - probably not.
Newshub.
