When Brooke Blurton made her reality television debut in 2018 on Nick Cummins‘ season of The Bachelor Australia, she instantly became one of the nation’s most loved Bachelor girls.
Authentic, honest and outspoken, the mental health activist— who was just announced as an ambassador for suicide prevention charity, R U OK?— won Nick Cummins over with her bubbly personality and infectious smile. However, Honey Badger’s frontrunner later shocked Australia when she quit the series and walked off the set.
Brooke, 23 at the time, received a wave of backlash for her unexpected exit. However, despite the fallout, fans of the Indigenous social worker were pleased when they discovered she’d signed on to appear on season two of Bachelor In Paradise. While filming on the Fijian island, Brooke, who publicly revealed in 2018 she was bi-sexual, made history by being the first woman to share a lesbian kiss with her co-star, Alex Nation.
WATCH: Brooke Blurton dishes on her on-screen affair with Alex Nation
Not shy when it comes to expressing her feelings, the brave reality star says she’s proud to have been a part of such a game-changing moment.
“I’d like to see more same-sex relationships on TV and I love the fact I was a part of that.”
However, Brooke’s time in the spotlight and on our screens came at a cost, telling WHO’s Madison Spira she was “expected to play the angry black girl”. While she doesn’t regret joining both series’, her time on set was beset with drama and unpublicised issues.
Now, in an explosive, raw and unedited interview, the Perth local shares first-hand the actual reality of reality TV.
Brooke Blurton on mental health
“You have to look out for yourself. You don’t trust anyone.”
“It [The Bachelor] is competitive. You have to look out for yourself. You don’t trust anyone, so you can’t confide in anyone because you don’t know what could be or what could happen. You’re really just living in your head. I am a very analytical person and I analyse situations and I know how people are feeling even if they can’t say so because that’s what I do for a job.
But in those moments, I could definitely see girls who were really, highly anxious and their mental health sort of deteriorated because of the lack of communication from the outside world. They were living in their heads.”
WATCH: Brooke reveals why she couldn’t trust anyone in the Bachelor mansion
Brooke Blurton on “the battle of trust” in the Bachelor mansion
“The minders are really great… but you wouldn’t trust them in the show process because you don’t really know who is from production and who isn’t.”
“The network provides you with a psychologist who you can call at any time. You can speak with them or the minders— they’re people around the house who you hang out with. The minders are really great, but you wouldn’t trust them in the show process because you don’t really know who is from production and who isn’t… and they obviously work for production.
I didn’t confide in the psychologists or the minders. In that environment, you can confide in someone and it could be circulated around the group. It becomes a battle of trust.”
Brooke Blurton on “playing a character” in The Bachelor
“They wanted me to be the angry black girl. And if you don’t conform, they are quite aggressive with how they speak to you.”
WATCH: Brooke dishes on why producers wanted her to be “the angry black girl”
“Obviously, they’re making a TV show and you hear that quite often. You’re basically characters in a show and you have to conform to be that character. If you don’t conform, they [producers] are quite aggressive with how they speak to you. I didn’t necessarily conform… and the manipulation is definitely there.
I think they wanted me to be the angry black girl, but I was not that. I think they wanted me to step up and be controversial on camera in front of the girls which I don’t think is right. That’s not how I deal with confrontation. They stick you in these environments that are very testing and trying. You know, late nights, early mornings. It’s chaotic.”
Brooke Blurton on walking out of The Bachelor
“I can’t say they didn’t try to persuade me to stay.”
“I had my date with Nick, I slept on it, and then the Rose Ceremony was the next day. I really do analyse things and in a way, you have to be selfish. I won’t go into too much, but I would say the decision to leave was definitely mine. I can’t say that they didn’t try persuade me to stay.”
Brooke Blurton on why she asked Nick Cummins to delete her phone number
“I don’t know what kind of message he was trying to send me, but it got to the point where I couldn’t really respond anymore.”
WATCH: Brooke reveals the real reason why she asked Nick to stop contacting her
“He [Nick Cummins] had communicated with me while waiting for the show to air and I was very much confused why. I obviously left on my own terms and I was moving on and I was trying to get past that and build myself back up from being in that environment… and then, yeah, he was very unusual with his text messages. I just told him to delete my number.
Brooke Blurton on confronting Nick Cummins about his cryptic messages before joining Bachelor In Paradise
“He thought I was being spiteful.”
“I only reached out to him when Paradise was airing, giving him a courtesy call to let him know that I was going to tell people what he said. That was not a nice conversation, but I thought I was being courteous. He thought I was being spiteful. He came across a bit rude.”
Brooke Blurton on why she doesn’t recommend women apply for The Bachelor
“If you’re not really set on who you are and what character you’ve been picked for, it’ll be a very uneasy ride for you.”
“I really enjoyed my experiences. I can see the challenges and definitely the really unethical ways of treating people. And I would say if you’re not really set on who you are and what character you’ve been picked for, it’ll be a very uneasy ride for you. I spend most of my time talking girls out of it rather than into it.”
Who.com.au has contacted Network Ten for comment. They are yet to respond.
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