The former engaged couple decided to split the top prize after beating other three couples in the final.
- Sep 13, 2011
AceShowbiz - "Bachelor Pad" season 2 has crowned Holly Durst and Michael Stagliano as the winners. The former engaged couple took the top prize of $250,000, which they chose to share evenly while they were also given an option to play to take home the entire amount for one of them.
Earlier in the three-hour season finale which aired Monday, September 12, the remaining four couples went to Las Vegas, where they competed for a Cirque du Soleil challenge to determine the final two couples. Former "The Bachelor" / "The Bachelorette" stars Trista Sutter, Jason Mesnick and Ali Fedotowsky served as the judges, and they named Michael and Holly as the winner in the challenge.
Kirk Dewindt and Ella Nolan were immediately eliminated since their acrobatic routines were deemed the worst. Later, Michael and Holly got to pick between Vienna Girardi/Kasey Kahl and Michelle Money/Graham Bunn to be with them in the final four. After talking with the two couples, Michael and Holly decided to give the rose to Michelle and Graham, sending Vienna and Kasey home.
In a reunion segment, the final two couples argued about their cases in a studio filled by all previously eliminated contestants of this season. Holly's engagement with another housemate Blake Julian was also addressed in this part.
The fourteen eliminated contestants then cast their votes for the couple whom they thought should be the winners. Holly/Michael won over Michelle/Graham with 10-4 votes. Speaking of the results, Holly said, "It doesn't feel real at all and I don't think it will until I watch it on TV. I think Michael and I have gone through so much over the past few years and he is more than deserving of the money, so I picked share."
Michael also explained his decision to split the money, saying "Holly and I talked about being partners all the way through and this very moment and splitting the money, and when we talked two weeks ago, we talked about it and a lot of that time was her apologising to me about how hard it was and that was great." He added, "But getting here and finding out she was engaged was hard... but she will always be my teammate."
