The Bachelor Australia: Abbie Chatfield might have had a 'secret boyfriend' before the show

The Bachelor Australia contestant Abbie Chatfield has found herself surrounded by controversy again this week, with reports suggesting she had a secret boyfriend before entering the show.

According to New Idea, the property analyst from Queensland was getting close to a British backpacker just weeks before she met this year's bachelor Matt Agnew on the red carpet.

"She went to Europe last year, met a guy in Scotland, convinced him to move to Australia," a source told the magazine. "Abbie spent a couple of weeks travelling with him and then called it a day."

The source claimed they called it quits because at 23 years old, Abbie has no desire to settle down — not with the backpacker or with astrophysicist Matt.

"Whenever she was with Matt she'd be telling him she wants to settle down, get married and have children — whatever he wanted to hear," claimed the source. "And then once Abbie was back in the mansion, she'd be laughing to the other girls that she's 23, a party girl and couldn't think of anything worse."

Things in the mansion look set to get worse for Abbie because it appears a showdown looms between herself and fellow contestant, Sogand Mohtat.

"I couldn't hold back after seeing how Abbie was one way in front of us girls when the cameras were rolling then another way to Matt," the 30-year-old civil engineer told Sunday Confidential. "She is a manipulator. And it is time I tell her how it is." 

However, in a recent interview with TV Week, Abbie — who faced backlash from the contestants after she snitched on recently eliminated contestant Monique Morley — insisted that she was on the show to find love. 

"I had such strong feelings for him," said Abbie, who contemplated leaving following the fallout she received for secretly kissing Matt at the cocktail party. "When I get accused of not being there for the right reasons, I think that's insane. Why would I go through all of this, spend every day in bed crying because of these girls having it in for me, if I didn't like the guy?"