Mike Baird live tweets Bachelor finale, steals show

NSW Premier Mike Baird may have been laid up with a case of "man-flu" last night, but the illness did nothing to diminish his wit as he live-tweeted the hotly-anticipated finale of The Bachelor with hilarious results.

Complaining that his daughters had "hijacked" the TV, the premier proceeded to lambast the reality show, from the music ("a bit of Cold Chisel wouldn't go astray"), to the hirsute choices of ("that goatee") bachelor Sam, whose morals Mr Baird also took issue with.

That said, Mr Baird, evidently a lateral thinker, showed some interest in introducing a rose-based approval system for passing legislation in the lower house, though he did lament the speed at which things unfolded.

The telegenic premier is often celebrated – if not fawned over – for his charm, which obviously carries into the 140-character world of Twitter pretty well, but whether or not it was calculated, live-tweeting the Bachelor was a shrewd move.

The show dominated non-news ratings last night, drawing 1.05 million viewers, with the Twitter hashtag trending in concert.