Cuddle-Buds, Not BFs, Claim Aussie Reality Show Stars

When does a bromance become a romance? Aussie media suspect that's there more to the relationship fo two male reality show stars, reports the Daily Mail.

"Matt Agnew has spoken of his tender friendship with Khanh Ong. 'The Bachelor' star and the 'MasterChef Australia' contestant have grown extremely close, holding hands, sharing regular 'date nights' and cuddles.

"But the pair have denied there is anything 'sexual' in their bond while speaking on the Feast podcast this week."

Said Agnew: "It's the lack of affection straight men show other men that people assume there must be something sexual there."

The reality star went on to note that, "Being affectionate and tactile with your friends, and blokes especially need to do more of this. Everyone should be comfortable enough in their sexuality that they don't feel uncomfortable showing affection, men or women."

He added: "There's that random line in the sand – nah blokes can't show affection – which is stupid."

The Daily Mail writes that Matt went on to explain that the pair enjoy sharing a platonic cuddle, as they are both single and in need of companionship.

"Humans are very social creatures. Cuddles and embraces, that releases dopamine and makes you feel good," he said. "For everyone, women and men, cuddling is important. That physical comfort and being able to feel safe. It's something inherently human."

Matt said that Tuesday night is their preferred date night, but the out Khanh said that he was feeling especially vulnerable last week and they had two date nights.

"We were friends and it got to a point where we were like, 'Do you just want to come on the couch and watch a movie and sit and hold hands?' " Khanh went on. "I was missing the companionship. The sex is easy but the company was the hard thing to find so it kind of just worked."

The podcast came after the pair had taken a vacation in Vietnam and shared pics on social media. One showed Agnew's buff physique while in the water.

While a second showed him in a hammock, which he captioned: "Draw me like one of your French girls," to which Khanh responded: "Daddy."

Agnew appeared on the 2019 series of the Channel 10 dating show "The Bachelor," which saw him ride off into the sunset with Chelsie McLeod. However, the romance fizzled out after three months, and he later confirmed he was dating comedian Gen Fricker, before revealing he is single.

Khanh's breakout came when he appeared on the Aussie reality show "MasterChef" in 2018. Audiences fell in love with his wit and vivacious personality when he was 25 years old.

"The Melbournite made it to the season 10 semi-finals, and even though he didn't make it past the top three, he was able to carve a career for himself post-show with ease," reports the Aussie website Now to Love. "A year later, he was cast on a TV cooking show, signed a book deal, and became a business partner at The George on Collins."

He returned to the cooking reality competition in 2020 with "MasterChef Australia: Back To Win," but did not win.

Last year he joined the "Survivor" franchise as part of "Australian Survivor: Blood v Water" where he was the 11th contestant voted out.