EXCLUSIVE: Bachelorette star Charlie Newling, 36, dies when his car falls off a cliff in Dover Heights. Sydney: The reality TV contestant welcomed his newborn eight weeks ago
A troubled reality star has died just two months after giving birth to his second child.
Charlie Newling, 36, who appeared on Ali Oetjen’s season of The Bachelorette in 2018, died at 11pm on Saturday after his car plunged off a cliff in Dover Heights, an eastern suburb of Sydney.
Police and rescue workers arrived at the Raleigh reservation after being contacted by locals who found his burning car at the foot of the 70-meter-high cliff.
Newling is said to have given birth to his second child, a daughter, with his partner Kristal Taylor just eight weeks ago.
He also has a 13-year-old son from a previous relationship.
Newling (pictured) was initially one of the frontrunners to win Ali Oetjen’s heart on The Bachelorette.
Police and rescue workers arrived at the Raleigh reservation after being contacted by locals who found his burning car at the bottom of a 70-meter-high cliff (pictured).
Newling was initially one of the frontrunners to win Oetjen’s heart on the Channel 10 dating show, earning the nickname “Mr Perfect” from viewers after boasting of his strong “family values”.
But fans turned on him for his so-called controlling behavior toward Oetjen, including refusing to introduce her to his family until they were “exclusive.”
Then, just two days after his eviction from The Bachelorette, footage emerged of him being wrestled to the ground outside the Golden Sheaf in Double Bay.
Newling, who had appeared on The Project earlier in the evening, said he had been drinking and celebrating his time on the show with friends when a fight with bouncers broke out around 10:50 p.m.
After the incident, it was revealed that he had a then eight-year-old son from a previous relationship, whom he had not revealed on the show.
Charlie previously dated glamor model Esme Dewitt (pictured) in 2020
A police spokesman confirmed that the accident on Saturday evening was not treated as suspicious
After leaving the show, he briefly dated former “Bachelor” star Dasha Gaivoronski, but kept a low profile.
This continued until September 2022, when he was sentenced to 13 months in prison for threatening to torture and kill his stepfather in a series of 37 text messages over a three-hour period.
“You are still controlled by that beating husband,” one message to his mother said.
“I will kill him in front of you one day before I leave.”
“You have no idea what I’m capable of, but you just know it won’t be pretty.”
Judge Ross Hudson heard Newling had suffered severe childhood trauma, including having to care for his biological father as a teenager after he was in an accident and became a paraplegic.
His father died of a painkiller overdose in 2018.
The court also heard that Newling, who worked as a building contractor after becoming famous on The Bachelorette, struggled with alcohol abuse.
He was convicted of a moderate drunk driving offense in 2021.
But in sentencing, Magistrate Hudson said he had to take into account the “fear, anguish and terror” Newling’s messages evoked.
He was handed a 13-month sentence to be served in the community.
A police spokesman confirmed that the accident on Saturday evening was not treated as suspicious.
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