Matt Agnew chooses Chelsie McLeod in The Bachelor Australia grand finale

Matt Agnew has chosen the winner of The Bachelor Australia 2019 and it’s... Chelsie McLeod.

An odds-on favourite from the beginning, the chemical engineer went on to steal the handsome astrophysicist’s heart.

During the show’s romantic finale in South Africa, Bachie Matt, 32, declared his love to the “perfect woman,” who was visibly taken aback at first.

“Chelsie I love you,” he gushed.

“What?” a stunned Chelsie replied, before admitting, “Thank God!”

“You make me want to believe in fairytales because when I’m with you I feel like I’m living one,” a beaming Matt went on to say.

He then presented his lady love with a ring “to mark the occasion,” which he slipped on Chelsie’s middle finder.

And as the sun set, Matt and Chelsie shared their first kiss as an official couple.

After the episode came to a close, the loved-up pair took to their respective Instagram accounts to share touching tributes to one another.

Chelsie posted a sweet selfie of the two, with a caption that simply read, “I love you”.

Matt also shared the same pic to his Stories, including the cheeky saying, “The cat’s out of the bag”.

Matt and Chelsie’s love story

Australia watched as Chelsie and Matt’s relationship blossomed over a series of single dates, including the all-important hometown visits.

During her one-on-one date with Matt in episode six, Chelsie shared a very intimate pool kiss with our bachie after getting very floury during a cheeky baking session.

“I'm sold... Matt & Chelsea forever,” one person wrote on Twitter, while another predicted, “It’s all over. Chelsie has just won the game” and a third wrote, “I believe Chelsie will win.”

Adding further fuel to the fire, Chelsie herself hinted previously that the date was, “Just the beginning of Matt and I nerding out”.

On their subsequent dates in episodes 10 and 12, the pair’s chemistry only grew stronger, with Matt and Chelsie getting cozy after an adrenaline-pumping abseiling session.

And of course, Chelsie was on cloud nine when she introduced Matt to her family on hometown dates, admitting how easily he would ‘fit in’ to her life.

The pair spent the final two episodes in loved-up bliss, with Chelsie finally dropping the L-bomb during their final date in South Africa.

Finale spoilers: How fans knew Chelsie won

Days before the big finale, keen-eyed Bachie viewers noted that the winner of several of the earlier seasons of both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette has been positioned smack-bang in the middle of each and every photo of the final three contestants.

And - yep, you guessed it - it was Chelsie, 28, who was front-and-centre in this season’s final three snap.

There were a few flaws in the theory, however, one being that it only applies to some seasons and not others. Snezana Markoski, who won Sam Wood’s season, for example, wasn’t given prime position in the final three pic.

Channel 10 released an updated photo of the final trio the following day, which many saw as a clap-back at the fan theory.

Chelsie the frontrunner from the start

There were other tell-tale signs that Matt would pick Chelsie as his ‘number one’ in the end.

Multiple ex-Bachelor stars including Emma Roche and Helena Souzier told Yahoo Lifestyle that they tipped the chemical engineer as the winner.

On top of that, Chelsie also lives in Matt’s hometown Melbourne and works just a short walk away from his current office, making her a great logistical choice.

There was also the argument that Chelsie and Matt connected on more of an intellectual level and are at similar life stages, while 23-year-old rival Abbie has been dogged by accusations she’s in the competition for the wrong reasons.

The bookies also had Chelsie as a clear favourite before the season even began.

In the week before the finale, she was the lucky lady tipped to receive Matt’s final rose, with Sportsbet putting her at $1.22 to win.

Abbie - who had crazy sexual chemistry with Matt - was far behind at $5.

In the end, it was Chelsie who stole Matt’s heart.

Another sign Chelsie would win

Brittany Hockley, who along with Sophie Tieman was spurned by Nick Cummins on season six of The Bachelor Australia, earlier dropped some major hints about how viewers can pick a winner.

While chatting with close friend and fellow bachelorette Cass Wood on her YouTube channel, Brittany revealed that the ladies who don’t get much screen time at the beginning of the season are more likely to make it to the finale - which was certainly very true for Chelsie.

"For me, because of the ending and where I came, they kept me quite hidden [in the edit] so I didn't have a lot to deal with in the first half [of the season],” she said.

"They sort of put you to the side a little bit because they don't want to show you too much, they don't want to give anything away,” she added.

Who is Matt Agnew?

The seventh Aussie Bachelor is a 32-year-old astrophysicist from Melbourne. Matt has a double degree in science and engineering, and he just finished his PhD which means he’s now Dr Agnew.

However, while he was working as an astrophysicist prior to filming the show, he’s since taken a career pivot and moved into a data scientist role.

After photos were taken of him outside of NAB, speculation was rife he had lied about his day job, but Matt has since said, “I started working with a data science consultancy called Quantium.”

“In the two months that I’ve worked for them, I think I’ve had two, maybe three meetings at one of the NAB offices and that was sufficient to create the story that apparently I’m a banker.”

Matt grew up in Adelaide and Perth along with his three siblings, and says he’s inspired by his mum and dad’s 30-year marriage.

As this year’s Bachelor, Matt is “really hoping to fall in love” on the show.

After three serious relationships - and being single for a year and a half - Matt is seeking a “genuine woman who enjoys having a laugh and doesn’t take herself too seriously.”

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