The Bachelor‘s 2021 runner-up Brooke Cleal has revealed she gets “triggered” watching the show, what different cliques formed in the mansion and why she was so certain she would win Jimmy Nicholson’s heart.
WATCH The Bachelor Australia finale: Jimmy Says Goodbye To Brooke
The occupational therapist said an emotional goodbye to Jimmy on Thursday night’s finale, where the pilot ultimately declared his love for Holly Kingston.
Speaking candidly to Laura Byrne and Matty J on their Life Uncut podcast, Brooke admitted watching the season back has been the toughest part of the whole process.
“I can see a lot of my flaws. Just the whole relationship is so confronting. I was like ‘Woah Brooke’,” she said.
Brooke also revealed why she was so confident during the finale that she’d won Jimmy’s heart.
“I didn’t think of a back-up plan, I was that convinced. Even one of the producers was like ‘Have you thought about if it’s not you?’ and I was like ‘It’s me’,” she said.
“Why would he make me feel so hopeful about coming back and then just to send me home. It just makes no sense at all in my head.
“I think that’s why I was so convinced. We’d been through so much. By that stage I felt like I was fully in a relationship so I was like ‘Nah he wouldn’t hurt me’.”
Brooke added that Jimmy had checked in on her every few days when she briefly left the mansion following the death of her grandfather.
“[He was] still making me feel pretty hopeful. He also said things like ‘I’d be pretty disappointed if you didn’t come back’,” she said.
“I actually assumed at that stage that he was genuine and that he actually meant a lot of those things… I took the risk going back for him.”
Brooke doesn’t feel resentful towards Jimmy for not picking her, but said she wished he didn’t bring her to the finale two “if he knew it wasn’t going to work at a certain point”.
The 27-year-old also revealed she felt like she was “instantly an outer person” within the other women when she arrived back at the mansion.
“The only person who really understand what I’d been through was Jimmy and he became my best friend,” she said.
“It was weird because starting the show I was close with people like Holly and Carlie – I had a great bond with them before I went home. But when I came back in everyone was so territorial over their connection,” she explained.
“I went back into it thinking we can still be friends and still have fun but the vibe had changed so much by that point.”
Brooke revealed different “cliques” among the contestants had formed while she was away, adding that she was “never close” with Lily Price.
“She was really close to Holly and Carlie at that point, and I was like ‘Wow, that’s changed’,” she said.
Brooke said that while she’s not in love with Jimmy anymore, she is “still triggered” by her emotions for him.
“I’m not in love with him but I can still feel some of those emotions powering through me,” she said.
Brooke admitted she got comfortable on camera and was “a little unhinged at times”.
“I would just say exactly what I’m thinking and then I’d be like ‘Ooh, what have I said?’ she revealed.
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