TOPICS: The Bachelor journey started as 'whim' for Newcastle's Elly Miles

The 24-year-old was eliminated from The Bachelor on Wednesday night, in a shock fifth place exit for the fan-favourite.

But while it may be fresh for those of us sitting in front of the TV, it's been about four months since the rose ceremony where bachelor Matt Agnew eliminated the nurse.

After leaving the Bachelor Mansion, Elly escaped for a 10-week trip to Europe before heading home to Parkes to work for the rest of the year.

But she told Topics on Thursday she plans to move back to Newcastle in January - she lived in the Hunter studying at uni and working for a few years before going on the reality show.

"I miss my life in Newy," she said.

"I love the lifestyle, I love how friendly people are, I love being near the water and I can't wait to get back to that in January."

It turns out it took only a partially completed application form for Elly to catch the attention of the show's producers.

"It sort of just started off as a bit of a whim, half-arsed giving the application a go, then I sort of just gave up on it because it was too much to fill out," Elly said.

"Two months later I get this call ... they said they wanted me to come in and have a chat and when I did, it all just snowballed.

"I just thought 'why not?' I'll give it a go and see what happens and I might find love at the end of the day."

She made a strong first impression on astrophysicist Matt in the opening episode, bringing marshmallows for the pair to roast and scoring the season's first one-on-one date - in the bachelor's hometown of Melbourne.

"I wanted to do something that was near and dear to my heart - that [roasting marshmallows] was my childhood growing up in Parkes," she said.

"I went into it not knowing what to expect. I didn't want to go in there with some kind of game plan or some kind of angle. For starters, that's just not me and you just don't know what you're in for."

In those final seconds as she was preparing to meet Matt for the first time, Elly said all she hoped was that it wasn't someone famous that had been cast in the show's title role.

"My heart was racing," she said.

"Obviously the show is notorious for having someone known to the public.

"I hoped it was a regular guy, someone who doesn't have a big head or has been in the [entertainment] industry."

Aside from her second date with Matt - fire twirling and eating marshmallows for a second time - Elly said her highlight was getting to know the other women in the Bachelor Mansion.

"I loved spending time with the girls," she said.

"We actually became really good friends. We all spent more time with each other than any of us did with Matt."

So who's Elly's tip to win? She can't split it between Abbie Chatfield and Chelsie McLeod.

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