After splitting with former The Bachelor Richie Strahan earlier this year, Alex Nation has fallen in love with another.
The model and mother-of-one, 26, from Mount Eliza on the Mornington Peninsula, is in a relationship with her fellow Frankston Bombers WFL teammate Maegs (Maegan) Luxa, 31, a chef from Langwarrin, for support after her breakup with Strahan.
"Alex has found love in the arms of a woman," a friend of Nation was quoted as telling New Idea magazine, where pictures of them together appeared today.
They initially tried to keep their relationship out of the public, but were open in front of Nation's son Elijah, six, close friends, family and teammates, happily kissing and holding hands.
"They are inseparable, spending very few nights apart, but it was all a bit of a shock," the friend said.
Strahan, 32, a Perth-based rope technician, was not told of Nation's new partner to save him from pain.
"Richie knows nothing at all about this... right now, confronting him with this news seems way too difficult and the last thing she wants to do is hurt Richie," they added.
Fairfax Media has asked Strahan for comment.
Keira Maguire, who starred alongside Nation and Strahan on The Bachelor, is thrilled for Nation.
"Love is love, I wish her all the happiness," she told Fairfax Media.
He endured a public backlash when he "followed [his] heart" and chose Nation over girl-next-door and fellow WA-native Nikki Gogan on last year's The Bachelor finale.
Although fans believed he would be better suited to Gogan, there was no denying his intense chemistry with Nation that only intensified as the series went on, culminating in a risque chocolate bath.
They enjoyed a whirlwind romance professing their adoration for each other through social media (a lot of Snapchatting from bed with dishevelled hair) and glossy magazine shoots, including a family scene with Elijah.
Their split had been speculated for the last six months, but they put on a united, PDA-filled front at the Logie Awards in Melbourne in April.
However, their reluctance to give interviews on the red carpet coupled with a not-so-subtle fight in the lobby of the Crown Promenade at the Channel Ten after-party, got tongues wagging about their future.
It would be their last public appearance together.
Their refusal to confirm or deny their split brought the ire of fans once more.
"By not answering the question they are keeping everyone guessing and it keeps them in the spotlight," one wrote on Instagram.
Another added: "Can you not just confirm or deny?... If I split with someone I would want it out there so people would stop asking and I could move on."
A post shared by New Idea Magazine (@newideamagazine) on Aug 13, 2017 at 3:52pm PDT
The front page of today's New Idea magazine.
A unnamed source claimed to Woman's Day: "They were worried if they announced it their profiles would come falling down, so they decided to say nothing."
Instead Nation had hinted that the season four lovebirds were no more by playing breakup songs on Instagram and showing off her new shoulder tattoo of a lotus flower - a symbol of spiritual awakening, new beginnings and the female reproductive system.
Nation is not the first to enter into a relationship with a woman after being paired with Strahan.
A post shared by Megan Marx ???????????? (@megan.leto.marx) on Oct 15, 2016 at 7:53pm PDT
After competing for the tradie's heart last year on the reality love series, dumped WA pair Tiffany Scanlon and Megan Marx turned towards each other.
Some claimed their relationship was to boost their public profiles, but they both denied those allegations. They have since split.
It is not clear whether Nation has had a previous relationship with a woman prior to Luxa. She was married to Elijah's father, Joel Porter, briefly in 2011.
Fairfax Media has contacted Alex Nation and Maegs Luxa for comment.
Do you know more? Email amy.croffey@fairfaxmedia.com.au.
A post shared by Alex Nation (@alexandranation) on Aug 7, 2017 at 3:17am PDT
