After being labelled the “angry runner-up” of Channel 9’s The Golden Bachelor, Janette has shared a raw and emotional reflection on her entire journey — written before the finale aired, and released to fans following her on screen heartbreak.
The 60 year old finalist, who made it to the last two alongside Sunny, was left blindsided in the emotional season finale when Bear chose Sunny as his partner.
Viewers watched Bear try to soften the moment by telling Janette that he cared for her, but she cut him off sharply, replying, “Don’t disrespect Sunny by saying anything like that. I hope you’re very happy, both of you.” She then made a quick, stunned exit from the mountaintop setting.
Inside the car, the walls came down.
“I feel like a fool. I thought he was going to choose me,” she said through tears.
Her blog, titled The Full, True, Emotional Journey, reveals a woman who was deeply changed by the experience — not just by Bear, but by the friendships, the travel, and the unexpected emotional depth of the journey.
She describes stepping out of the limo with nerves, reading Bear a poem with shaking hands, and finding comfort in his steadiness. She writes about the laughter and intimacy of life in the mansion, from whispered late-night check-ins to magnesium drinks, shared bathrooms, and the makeshift sisterhood that formed among the contestants.
Her birthday inside the house was a highlight. All the women dressed in white, cooked for her, celebrated her, and Bear even sent a bouquet and heartfelt card. She says that moment softened the ache of being away from her family.
Janette also reflected on the group dates, the kitchen chats that were off-camera, and the emotional impact of watching other women go home. She wrote about receiving video messages from her family, which she described as her anchor, and the comfort they brought whenever the experience felt overwhelming.
As the season progressed, her connection with Bear deepened, especially during their South Africa trip. She met his sons and brother, shared travel stories, and experienced a bucket-list safari she described as “magic”. For the first time, she allowed herself to think, “It might be me.”
She also addressed why she didn’t express her feelings as openly as some of the other women.
“I don’t fall in love in a few weeks,” she wrote. “I don’t open my heart while someone is also exploring feelings with other women. I wasn’t insecure. I was being true to who I am.”
But despite her caution, she admits she felt something real growing between them. By the final day, she felt hopeful and confident in her connection with Bear and in the possibility of being chosen.
Standing atop the mountain during the finale, Janette said she knew the truth the moment she looked into Bear’s eyes and saw sadness.
When he told her she deserved to find love but not with him, she described feeling the fairytale fall away instantly.
“I wanted to run. To tear off the dress. Throw the shoes,” she wrote. But she held herself together for interviews, cameras, and the final moments of production.
Returning home, she leaned on her family and began to process the experience. She says that although she felt blindsided, she has no regrets.
In what many fans are now calling the most touching part of her message, Janette wrote that her true happily ever after wasn’t meant to be with a man, but with the women who shared the journey with her.
“While this wasn’t my love story with Bear,” she wrote, “I found love in 19 extraordinary women. My golden sisterhood. My forever family.”
Janette may not have won the final rose, but according to her own words, she walked away with something she considers far more meaningful: a chapter that changed her, friendships that will last, and a golden ending of her own.
