Brigalow is home to just 170 people but it now holds claim to producing the most eligible bachelor and bachelorette of the bush.
After a decade, Queensland Country Life's Bush Bachelor and Bachelorette Competition made a long-awaited comeback at the Bell Centenary Races on Saturday, where hundreds of people packed the small town's pavilion to hear Darby Bourke, 27, and Ella Dalgliesh, 25, announced as the winners.
Runner-ups were 26-year-old contractor Nick Henderson from Roma and 24-year-old nurse Liesl Fretwell from Quilpie.
More than 80 singles, aged 18 to 35 years, were nominated for the competition and narrowed down to 10 top men and women.
When counting closed at midnight last Wednesday, more than 5200 individual votes had been received from across Australia and even as far as America.
Darby, who is also a rural contractor, had dabbled in rodeo clowning but his main hobbies included playing rugby for the Chinchilla River Rats, campdrafting, and having a good time.
Ella had just finished her first year of university, studying oral health therapy at Rockhampton, but was raised on a cropping operation as the only girl with three older brothers.
The pair of mates, who grew up together, created their own bush bachelor and bachelorette t-shirts with a giant QR code and visited their local watering holes to drum up votes.
It clearly worked.
"When I heard your name (Darby) I was like, I could be in with a chance here because I thought your votes are my votes and I worked very hard for us...too hard I think," Ella joked after the announcement.
"Thanks everyone who voted for us; probably half of Chinchilla and Brigalow, a bit of the Territory and all the rest of it," Darby added.
"We are grateful that they think we are good looking....we're just two average bush kids but we love it."
While there are no obligations for the finalists to date one another, the networking event aimed to bring single people of the bush together and give them the exposure they needed to find true love.
The winners also each received a QCL merch pack valued at more than $200, $600 in cash, drink tickets to celebrate their win and a $180 commemorative bell from the Roma Saddlery.
Each of the runners-up received $125 in cash and some drink tickets too.
Both Darby and Ella agreed that they were "like brother and sister" and no moves would be made, but were hopeful their new found fame would help them in the dating stakes.
"...the money for me will be good because I'm a uni student but if you find the love of your life, that is priceless," Ella said.
"I had no idea about it but as soon as I got the call I was like, you know what it'll be a fun time and let's have a crack," Darby said, who was nominated by his brother.
"It draws a crowd, it's a bit of fun; what more could you ask for?"
Both were big supporters of the event returning next year, despite the competition not running since 2013.
Bell Race Club president Nathan McNamara said 2075 people attended the races, which exceeded the previous record by around 50 per cent.
"We had patrons from Brisbane, Sunshine Coast right through to Roma and Charleville and down to Goondiwindi and up to Emerald all attend," he said.
"There was no doubt about it...the bachelor and bachelorette competition certainly was a big drawcard of the event, particularly for a lot of the younger generation who wanted to get there and support their friends and ultimately see who won.
"We are still letting this one sink in but we'd like to believe it has put us on a new stepping stone in terms of a regional event that hopefully a lot of people have enjoyed and will put on their calendar each year.
"I'd just like to thank all the patrons, sponsors, and committee members, past and present, that put a lot of dedication and hard work into making the event successful."
The Bush Bachelorette finalists were Paige Caldwell, 23, Tess Schiffmann, 28, Liesl Fretwell, 24, Ella Dalgliesh, 25, and Bec Kenny, 31.
The top five Bush Bachelors were Luke Brownlie, 26, Nick Henderson, 26, Darby Bourke, 27, Sam Bridges, 29, and Joe Allen, 34.
- Queensland Country Life sincerely thanks the Bell Race Club committee for their support and help in bringing this competition back to life.
Lucy Kinbacher
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
