'The Bachelor Australia' 2016 latest news: Ex-contestant Faith Williams denies reports that she’s dating Jake Ellis from ‘The Bachelorette’

They may have failed to capture the hearts of “The Bachelor” star Richie Strahan and Georgia Love from “The Bachelorette,” but it seems the successful reality show franchise has brought together two former fan favourites.

Speculations have surfaced that Jake Ellis and Faith Williams are dating after they posted photos of them together on his Instagram account. The two were seen at the premiere of KOOZA by Cirque du Soleil last week. On his Instagram account, the 30-year-old hunk shared with his 18,000 fans that he had an “amazing night” with “this gorgeous chick,” referring to Faith.

“The show was beyond amazing, felt like a little kid again,” he wrote. “Also a big shout out to my close mates at @edisonwatchco loved wearing one of your classy watches, excited to see what's next after your Kickstart campaign is a success boys!”

Fans immediately assumed that romance is in the air for the two. As one avid watcher of the reality show franchise pointed out, it’s natural for former contestants to develop feelings for each other. The reactions of their fellow ex-contestants, meanwhile, further intensified the rumours. “You guys are the hottest new couple on the block,” Courtney Dober commented. Noni Janur, on the other hand, wrote, “Saaaa cute.”

[READ: “Noni Janur reveals shocking reason for her elimination; Megan Marx criticises baby date”]

However, Faith quickly doused the excitement, denying that there’s a love story brewing between her and Jake. She posted the same photo on her own Instagram page and captioned it, “Had so much fun at Cirque du Soleil last night with @jakeellis86. Just to put some rumours to rest Jake and I are JUST FRIENDS!” As if to make her point clearer, she used the hashtags #mates, #friends, #homey and #bachelor family.

Fans remember that Faith wasn’t successful in winning over Richie, who chose single mum Alex Nation in a dramatic finale in September. Meanwhile, Jake ended up being second runner-up in “The Bachelorette Australia.” Georgia named Lee Elliott as this year’s winner over Matty Johnson.

[READ: “The real reason Jake Ellis was eliminated before the final rose ceremony”]