Tim Warmels has finally met his match. After narrowing down his choices from 25 beautiful women competing for his affection, the former investment banker and entrepreneur proposed to realtor April Brockman in the series finale of The Bachelor Canada, which aired on Nov. 19 on City.
Despite a lack of sleep – the happy couple had been up since four in the morning preparing for media interviews – April, 27, and Tim, 28, couldn’t contain their joy as they spoke about their love for the first time with Hello! Canada. The pair are celebrating the fact that after five months of secrecy (“I had to sneak over to his place wearing wigs!” says April), they can now be open about each other.
We caught up with the future Mr. and Mrs. Warmels in Toronto after the big engagement reveal, where they told Hello! how they fell in love and what’s in store for them next.
GALLERY: How alike are Tim and April? They took our lighting quiz to find out!
Congratulations to you both! It’s been quite a journey. Tim, How did you decide that you were going to propose?Tim: I got to a place where I was comfortable with proposing because I knew there was that basic connection, but I had no idea if she was going to say yes. I really had to trust that if it was meant to be, it was going to be — and if it wasn't, then damn, at least I tried. The connection, though, that’s the important stuff. Now we get to do all the fun stuff ... finding out our weird idiosyncrasies.
April: There’s fun things and then there’s always the little annoying things you learn about each other – just normal relationship things. We’re figuring them out and now we just can't wait for real life to happen.
From the very beginning, there were a lot of fans that thought April would be the one. Tim, when did you know?I was very interested from the beginning, absolutely, but going to her hometown is when things really changed. We were talking about her past and how that affects her now, and there was a moment where I just thought, "I feel like I can figure out anything with this girl – no matter how tough," and then I thought, "That’s who you want to marry."
April, we saw you struggle with the process near the end. When did you decide you were going to say yes to his proposal?We knew we wanted to be with each other after all this was said and done, but really I didn't know if he was going to ask and he didn't know if I was going to accept. We did what felt right in the moment – and here we are!
Re-watching the episodes and seeing Tim with Trish, was there anything you had to talk out with each other?April: For the most part, I was OK with it. I had the right mentality going into it. Of course, there are a couple parts that sting a bit near the end with Trish, and maybe one incident with Sachelle. You know, maybe something he said, a kiss that lingered a little too long. But really, I respect the relationships that he had and the connections that he had with these girls. Because you cherish it, right? I mean, I cherish all my past relationships and those experiences lead to where you are now and I respect them.
Tim: One of our first conversations was, when you [April] said to me that this wasn’t about it being a competition. She said, “If you have a connection with someone else that’s greater than the connection that we have, good for you. I want you to explore that. I would be a bad person if I felt like I was trying to keep you from that.” If you love someone, you want them to be in the happiest relationship they can be in, whether that’s with you or not. So when she said that to me, I thought, that speaks to something. It speaks to an understanding of life that is very, very rare. She happened to think that it wasn’t very rare, but I was sitting there being like, “You have no idea how rare that is!” [Laughs]
April, you’re from Wasaga Beach, and Tim, you live in Toronto. So when is the big move in?Tim: Her car is completely packed – it’s outside, parked and ready to go!
What about decorating?Tim: I build everything and she decorates.
April: I’ve been like, “Don’t buy anything until we can go pick things out together!” It’s very much a bachelor pad right now.
Tim: It’s very industrial. It definitely needs a woman’s touch.
What are you looking forward to the most about wedding planning, April?April: Not the dress! I’m going to be such a bridezilla trying to find the dress. The limo dress was such a hard one, I can’t even imagine trying to choose a wedding dress.
Do you have any ideas about the wedding? Have you picked a theme?Tim: No theme. We generally know we want a fall wedding, so it will probably be in September or October next year. But there’s so much to plan. What if we did a themed wedding? Cowboys?
[April shakes her head]: No way! No.
Tim: [Laughs] We generally know we want a fall wedding, so it will probably be in September or October next year.
