"I don't have any parents." Nikki on the hardest part of being in The Bachelor mansion.

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Despite her eviction on Wednesday night’s episode of The Bachelor, Australia will always remember Nikki Ferris as the hilarious bachelorette vying for the heart of Matt Agnew.

There was the televised time when the primary teaching student introduced herself to Matt, wearing a cheerleader outfit on the red carpet, and the tragically un-televised, post dog c**t scandal interview where she dressed up as a snake and told the camera: “This house is like a zoo and I dressed up as the biggest snake in the mansion, Abbie’s safe”.

However, there was more to the 24-year-old than her quippy interviews and bombastic on-camera presence. Speaking to Mamamia the day after her elimination, Nikki’s signature energy and zest was palpable across the phone line.

“I’m at a station, it’s called devastation and it’s because Matt – the 40-year-old lesbian – didn’t give me a rose,” she said, tongue-in-cheek.

“Gosh it’s really rude that Matt sent me home so close to Father’s Day knowing full that my dad left me as well,” she continued. Again, tongue firmly wedged in cheek.

Nikki finally has a chat with Matt and shares he softer side. Post continues below:

Apart from her comedic antics, there was a lot more to Nikki that viewers weren’t privy to.

Growing up in Sydney’s Western suburbs, her father left her and her mum, Sharon, when Nikki was a teenager, leaving them to pay off his debts. Six months later, Sharon, a non-smoker, was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, and the disease claimed her life on February 27, 2017.

Reflecting on her time in the Bachelor mansion, Nikki wishes she was able to share it with her mum.

“Everybody would ring their parents and [I couldn’t] because I don’t have any parents,” she said.

“My mum never got to see me dressed up because growing up we didn’t have a lot of money. When my dad left, we lived in poverty.

“My mum never got to see me all pretty, and she’ll never see me at my wedding, or my graduation, and there’re so many birthday cards which will never be written on.”

 

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A post shared by Nikki Ferris ???? (@nikkiferriswheel) on Nov 18, 2018 at 5:04pm PST

Although she shared her story with Matt at a cocktail party, the footage never made it onto our screens.

“I wish Australia got to see my little soft side as well,” she said.

“I just want to make the world a better place, like my mum made it. She made the world a better place by being in it.”

Now, Nikki keeps her mum’s memory alive by continuing her legacy through a charity called Sharon’s Wish, which gifts cancer patients with therapy pillows. During her mum’s struggle with cancer, they discovered a gap in the system in which only breast cancer patients were given the pillows, some of which could cost up to a hundred dollars each.

As a result of her cancer, Nikki’s mum suffered from chronic pain in her neck and lungs, which was exacerbated by lengthy treatments which lasted up to nine hours. Despite this, financially she didn’t have the means to purchase a pillow.

And so Nikki made her mum a promise.

“I promised mum before she passed away that whatever type of cancer you have, you will receive a therapy pillow, and they have all different uses for different types of cancers,” she said.

“It’s the one thing that gives me peace that she’s still doing good, even though she’s longer here.”

Although Nikki regrets not being able to share her mum’s story, her stint on The Bachelor has already given Sharon’s Wish a major bump in awareness and donations. In the past week, the charity has raised an addition $8000, which allows Nikki to help another 108 cancer patients.

“I think everything does happen for a reason, my audition was actually on my mum’s birthday, and that’s when I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s meant to be’,” she said.

“It was a really, really amazing experience, I just wish she was there to see it. I love her more than I can put into words.”

 

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Cheering for all the snacks in the mansion,Matt included ???????? @thebachelorau @osher_gunsberg #cheeringforsnacks #rosesandrosé #bringiton #love #chickennuggets #uncolife #bachie2019 #Oshershair #ohmygodimonthebachelor #tuneinthiswednesdayon10 @channel10au

A post shared by Nikki Ferris ???? (@nikkiferriswheel) on Jul 27, 2019 at 2:53pm PDT

Now that she’s put her Bachelor days behind her, at least until Bachelor in Paradise starts again (Channel 10, are you listening?), Nikki isn’t giving up on love.

“I believe you either go with life, or grow with life, and I’m a grower,” she said chuckling, unable to resist the innuendo.

“I want to find someone who’ll buy me chicken nuggets with sauce first off, but aside from that really high standard, I’m just living my best Western Sydney life.”

via GIPHY

You can find out more information about Sharon’s Wish by visiting her website, or by following their Facebook page.

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