Casting the Dye? Why TV viewers can’t get enough of Bianca

Bianca Dye with Nova's Clint Stanaway and Abbie Chatfield's mum Laura. Image supplied

A funny thing happened to Bianca Dye at the airport on the weekend.

Fresh from co-hosting i98FM’s Golden Bachelor Brunch at the Illawarra Hotel, Bianca was enjoying a glass of wine, killing some time until she had to board her flight home to the Gold Coast, when a woman suddenly called out “Oh my God. Bianca! Bianca!”

The woman barrelled over and gave Bianca a giant hug.

Bianca assumed she’d recognised her from her recent TV appearance on The Golden Bachelor. But no. This woman was primarily a fan of her radio work.

“She said ‘I feel like the TV show has just shown everybody what you’re like – those who didn’t get the chance to grow up listening to you on the radio. You’re just so honest. You tell it like it is. But you’ve got a big heart.’”

The woman insisted on buying Bianca a drink.

No sooner had Bianca boarded the plane, another lady approached her. She told Bianca she’d loved listening to her during the Sea FM Breakfast days on the Goldy.

She, too, wanted to buy Bianca a drink.

The woman said “I manifested this. I always wanted to meet you. I always thought if I met Bianca, she and I would be besties.”

“I feel like I get that kind of feedback a lot,” Bianca says. “Mainly from women my age. It means so much to me.”

When Radio Today touched base with Bianca, she was feeling a tad overwhelmed. In a good way.

“Oh, babe!” she exclaims warmly, as she tells me that the groundswell of support that her recent TV appearance has generated is beyond anything she could have imagined.

When viewers launched an online campaign for the 52-year-old to have her own spinoff show as Australia’s first Golden Bachelorette, Bianca admits it caught her off guard.

She feels genuinely touched that people want her to find love.

“It’s really beautiful because they actually give a shit,” Bianca says.

“These people have grown up with me and followed my journey through IVF, miscarriages, domestic violence, public break-ups, getting ghosted … all that stuff.”

“People have followed it so publicly that they’re kind of invested in me finding love.”

High profile media personalities including Robin Bailey, Sophie Monk and Tanya Hennessey are also onboard the Bianca Train.

Hennessey said on Instagram: “You have to be the next Bachelorette. Loved watching you. You haven’t changed a bit. Hilarious, real and beautiful.”

Bianca says “I am genuinely surprised because it’s something that, as soon as it was brought up to me, I thought ‘Oh wow, I didn’t get the rose. I’m out. I’m single. I don’t want to go back on the apps.’”

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But – should TV bosses decide to go ahead with an Australian-first version of The Golden Bachelorette – Bianca would happily take on the role as romantic lead. And the timing couldn’t be better.

“I’m not doing full-time radio at the moment,” she says. “There have been a few little sniffs and a few little demos and things happening around the country with me, but nothing’s locked in.”

“I’m single and ready to Bachelorette mingle!” she laughs.

“It’s kind of like the perfect storm, because I love being on TV, I love filming, I love being a part of it, as it’s so exciting.”

“But I also want to find love. I get goosebumps when I think about it.”

Be it on radio or TV, Bianca has never shied away from tackling the messy, unfiltered side of life.

Since the axe fell on her Sea FM Breakfast radio gig two years ago, she’s been searching for the right job, with the right people. Something that aligns with who she is.

The Golden Bachelor proved a serendipitous fit, not least because Bianca – in her natural, true grit style – has given hope to thousands of women just like her.

“That’s just who I am,” says Bianca. “I think I’m blown away by it because I was just on TV being me. Just me. The same me you’ve heard on the radio for 32 years.”

“I haven’t changed. I’ve always been me on the radio. Always.”

“The fact that people are reacting this way to me on TV – just being me – is so f**king awesome and beautiful. Because it could have gone either way.”

Anyone who’s ever signed up to be on a reality TV show knows the public reaction can be brutal.

Bianca’s experience has been the opposite.

“Far out, man. It’s been so nice,” she smiles.

“I’m relieved that I’ve been received so well. I was shitting myself that people would be saying nasty things and trolling me. And of course, there are a few nasty comments like ‘Oh, she’s a loudmouth. Oh, she always wants to be the centre of attention.’”

For Bianca, the negative comments are like water off a duck’s back.

“I’m a performer. I’ve been in showbiz working in this industry since I was 17.”

“So yeah, I am a show off. I’m also single. And a good human.”

Images supplied.