It’s a story stranger than fiction – one even the best author couldn’t pen.
The farmer and rugby league prodigy, turned reality TV heart-throb, who revealed a secret geeky passion for fantasy fiction and ended up scoring himself a book deal after sending social media into a meltdown.
Luke Bateman is a man of contradictions – but behind the headlines, his life has been full of fascinating plot twists.
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Luke Bateman is a man of contradictions – but behind the headlines, his life has been full of fascinating plot twists. (A Current Affair)
Spoiler alert? Luke Bateman is exactly where he needs to be right now, and he couldn’t be happier.
That place is humble caravan, 900 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, in remote outback Queensland, 90 minutes past the town of Injune, where Luke now works as a logging contractor.
“I climbed the mountain, and then I got to the top, and I found the view not really worth the price,” he told A Current Affair while reflecting on his past life in the spotlight.
He was signed by the Canberra Raiders as a teenager and went on to play 71 games in the NRL, before being recruited to try and find love on the reality TV show The Bachelor.
And behind the glamour, Luke’s bigger secret? Apart from a love of reading? A gambling addiction.
“I was on a very high income in the NRL and I had no money in the bank,” he said.
“My mum was paying my mortgage for me.
“I couldn’t buy groceries … I would go a day without eating because I simply could not buy food.”
And it’s the mention of his mum and the role she played in his recovery that brought Luke to tears.
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Luke Bateman is exactly where he needs to be right now, and he couldn’t be happier. (A Current Affair)
“There were times in my recovery where I couldn’t go any further and Mum would pick me up,” he said.
“She gave me life, and she also saved my life.
“To cause her so much pain – it hurts me a lot.”
But Luke admits she’s also proud of how far he’s come – and so is he.
Unlike most authors pushing out deadlines, Luke has just handed in the first draft of his debut fantasy novel – three months ahead of schedule.
He’s hoping it will be part of a series of books he plans to write – describing the world in his head similar to the Marvel universe.
But that’s the only detail you’ll get – Luke’s tight-lipped on the rest, and that has Injune locals like publican Tony guessing.
“Well, they’re a bit out there,” Tony tells us when asked what he’s heard about the books.
“They told me they were children’s books,” he joked.
Luke has other plans – to write romance from a bloke’s perspective and a self help book about the lessons he’s learnt in life.
He’s also got his own podcast with Nine, called In the Good Books.
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Luke has plans to write romance from a bloke’s perspective and a self help book about the lessons he’s learnt in life. (A Current Affair)
For now though he spends daylight hours logging, and night time writing.
“Usually up about 4.30 or five o’clock, and then just brekkie … and then work through till four o’clock in the afternoon, and then come home and write through to 9, 9.30pm at night. Two to three hours every night,” Luke said.
And somewhere in his downtime, he’s posting book reviews on social media where since April he’s amassed millions of views and fans – among them, Reese Witherspoon.
He films the clips from the cabin of his logging harvester – where the ceiling lining is peeling away, and every corner is lined with a thick film of dust.
But it’s his happy place.
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For now though he spends daylight hours logging, and night time writing. (A Current Affair)
Never far from him the whole time, his mobile phone with a picture of him at 12 years old as his screensaver.
“There are two people whose opinion matters – and that’s your 12-year-old self and your 80-year-old self,” Luke said.
“And those two people are the people that I wake up and do things for every day, because I want my 12-year-old self to be proud of me and I want my 80-year-old self to be proud of me.”
You get the feeling Luke Bateman is at the summit he was destined to reach – one where little Luke’s dream is finally coming true.
“Writing and magic and storytelling are his mountain … and that’s the view that brings him the most joy. And he sits up there and looks at him and he’s happy,” Luke said.