Charlie Newling, a 2018 contestant on Bachelorette: Australia, was found dead in his car after it plummeted more than 230 feet off a cliff near Sydney, Australia. He was only 36.
The former TV reality show participant had only just announced the birth of his daughter with partner Kristal Taylor two weeks ago, according to The Messenger.
First responders found him dead in his wrecked car at Dover Heights at around 11 p.m. on Sept. 9. Attempts to revive him failed.
Newling was a popular contestant on his season of Bachelorette: Australia, but lost the final round when he refused to introduce the star of the show, Ali Oetjen, to his family. He said he didn’t want to bring her home because they were not dating each other exclusively and he felt it was too early to meet his family.
After the news broke, one of Newling’s fellow Bachelorette contestants, Danny Harris-Wolf, wrote on Instagram, “Oh geez, Charlie was a decent bloke to me.”
Charlie Newling is survived by his girlfriend and new daughter and a 13-year-old son from a previous relationship. (Channel 10/Sydney)
The U.S. Sun reports police say that the death is not being investigated as suspicious, but photos of the cliff over which his car plunged shows that the road ends several yards away from the cliff face, and that Newling would have to have driven through a fence to launch the car over the precipice.
Officials say an autopsy will be performed.
Newling had some dark secrets, though. In Sept. of 2022 he was arrested for making threats to kill his stepdad and during the trial he admitted bouts with alcoholism and having a prescription drug addiction. He checked into a rehab clinic in 2022, the Daily Mail added.
He also said he suffered childhood trauma as a teen when his dad became a paraplegic after an accident. His father later died from a drug overdose in 2018.
Newling is survived by his girlfriend and new daughter and a 13-year-old son from a previous relationship.
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