The 30-year-old construction worker, a fan favourite from the start, won Sam’s final rose in a dramatic showdown with smooth-talking rival Michael Turnbull in New Zealand last night.
But Sasha is determined to avoid repeating the same mistakes of The Bachelor villain Blake Garvey.
Love rat Blake proposed to Sam in The Bachelor final last year, only to dump his new fiancée days later for third-placed Louise Pillidge.
Bizarrely, he’s still trading off that infamous moment in a series of ads that poke fun at the incident for a motoring website.
Sasha is understandably far from impressed.
“At the end of the day, he probably didn’t go around things in the best way, I think that’s clearly evident,” said Sasha.
“Yeah, people make mistakes, and that’s been and gone, but what upset me the most was how he is rehashing everything with the drive.com.au ads — you know, saying it’s hard to make the right choice.
“Come on man, you are absolutely taking the piss and taking advantage of a situation where you broke a poor girl’s heart.”
Sasha said it was one of the reasons he chose not to propose to Sam in the finale, preferring to save that for a private moment.
“At this stage we have to take it very slow and start from the beginning,” he explained.
“We know each other back to front but we need to go through the normal progressions and go on holidays together, possibly live together and do all that before making a serious commitment down the road.
“Especially being in the public eye, that is a part of it now, as you saw with what happened with Blake and the controversy that stirred up.
“We can see babies down the track but that’s a long way off.”
Sam says she’s relieved that the shroud of secrecy is finally over – the show is taped weeks in advance – and they can finally enjoy each other’s company in the open.
“I was so scared to do this and was so scared to put my heart out there again,” a teary Sam declared to Sasha at the climax to the hit show last night.
“And I had moments where I just thought I was going to be one of those who never found the right person for them.
“I never could understand why I’d been hurt so much and why my relationships weren’t working out. And then I met you. And I realised I’d been waiting my whole life to meet you.
“I feel so blessed that you’re here.”
Sam shared the same sentiment again on Instagram last night, proving that unlike Blake, she wasn’t having second thoughts about her finale choice.
“I finally found the one I’ve been searching my whole life for.. Sasha Dean, I love you so much ❤️ thank you for being my best friend, always making me laugh and supporting me through thick and thin. It’s just good times all round! Love you all ?
