Bachelors stars Luke and Ellie - in love and planning a future together

Former Raiders player Luke Bateman on Wednesday night picked Ellie Rolfe in an emotional finale to The Bachelors Australia.

"Ellie, I've never felt the way I do for you, for anyone else," he told the statuesque blonde in the final.

Luke, 28, was regarded by many as the stand-out star of the show, trying to find love with one of 24 women - alongside fellow bachelors Wesley Senna Cortes and Ben Waddell.

Ellie, 30, from WA, says she felt certain from the start that Luke would pick her.

"Luke made me feel so secure, right from the start," she said.

"Honestly, not once did I doubt how I felt and how he made me feel. There honestly wasn't a point where I felt it wasn't going to be me. I feel very lucky and it says so much about Luke and the way he made me feel."

Filming of the show finished six months ago and since then the couple have had the very difficult task of keeping their relationship under wraps - literally not allowed to be in public together until after the finale aired on Wednesday night.

"We stepped outside the hotel this morning and we kind of thought, 'Is this allowed?'. It felt so wrong," Ellie said, with a laugh.

Luke, who played 71 matches for the Raiders, said it wasn't an easy situation.

"It's been very much not allowed to be together, not allowed to tell anyone, it's a big secret," he said.

"We've been allowed some secret get-aways that production organised for us. But a lot of time on the phone, a lot of Facetime, a lot of crying, which was 99 per cent me."

Luke, who works in his family's timber business in western Queensland, and Ellie, who works in a spa and has a jewellery and clothing line called Aru Store, plan to set up a home together near Byron Bay where she is currently living.

"After this, we're going straight back to WA where I'm from and where my family is and we're going to have Chrissy and New Year's over there," she said.

"We're going to do some roadtripping and then come back over east and move in together in Jan'."

Luke was regarded as one of the most successful bachelors in the Australian franchise.

The other bachelors this season, Wesley, a devout Christian, went home alone after his final pick, Brea, declined a relationship with him while Ben picked nice-girl McKenna, a 25-year-old PR manager from Queensland. Ben and McKenna have since broken up.

Cue the sighs around Australia on Wednesday night as Luke consoled Wesley, hugging him and telling him "I've got you".

Still down-to-earth, Luke said he'd been working out in western Queensland as the series went to air and "no one recognises you out there".

"It was an amazing experience," he said on Thursday.

"I went there with very genuine intentions and just wanted to hold a lot of integrity in myself through the whole process, so I'm glad that sort of reflected on-screen."

The couple say marriage and children are in their future.

"One day we'll be married and have children, that's something I have no doubt in my mind about," Luke said.

"Yeah, absolutely," Ellie said.

She said it was "the biggest blessing to find each other".

"And in such a magical and crazy way. It's a good story," she said.

Ellie said she had been in a long-term relationship before going on The Bachelors and meeting Luke.

"That relationship, I had checked out of earlier than it ended and it wasn't a very fulfilling dynamic," she said.

"I kind of thought maybe the love I am looking for just doesn't exist. I guess you could say I settled and as I got older, I thought what I need and what I'm looking for, maybe that isn't a real thing.

"And then when I met Luke, I was like, 'Oh, my god!'. He was like nothing I'd ever felt or experienced in a man before. His emotional maturity and his heart and he's so open and charismatic and caring.

"And that was in an environment where he was dating other women [on the show] and I still felt more secure than I had felt in my previous relationship."

Luke said all his hopes going into The Bachelors had been well and truly exceeded.

"If you had of asked what the best possible outcome would have been, I literally wouldn't have said this. This is far beyond anything I could have imagined. It's just so exciting and humbling."

They are now looking forward to having their relationship public and being like any other loved-up couple.

"It's such a relief," Ellie said. "I think being able to go out to dinner and be free and make plans and to tell everyone [is what I'm looking forward to]."

"Even just bloody waking up and being able to go and get a coffee together," Luke said, with a laugh.

"You really do forget what it's like to have those small moments and how enjoyable they are with a partner."