As all great love stories on The Bachelorette go, one person has to come out with their heart broken, and unfortunately, as Brooke Blurton’s season came to an end last night, it was Jamie-Lee Dayz who came in runner-up.
Brooke, the first bisexual and First Nations Bachelorette, ended up choosing Darvid Garayeli, pronouncing her love for him in a teary exchange.
Prior to that, she was tasked with breaking the news to Jamie-Lee.
“You are absolutely beautiful inside and out and you make me feel like the only girl in the world. I’ve really loved exploring the possibility of a relationship,” Brooke said, before telling Jamie-Lee she was not her chosen person.
However, Jamie-Lee has exhibited nothing but grace and gratitude ever since, seeming to have nothing but genuine love, support and happiness for the new couple.
“Obviously it was a little difficult to watch back, but I’m actually really glad that I was able to see the connection between Brooke and Darvid,” she admitted to WHO over the phone this morning.
“It was so strong that it kind of makes it understandable why she chose him.
“Darvid is such an incredible guy, it just made it a little bit easier to know that I’m losing her to someone that’s so incredibly open … and such a nice guy.”
Jamie-Lee elaborated that her and Darvid were actually close friends during filming, and she even had instances where she leaned on him for support.
“There was one moment that I was, at one cocktail party I was really nervous to go up and speak to Brooke … I was nervous about interrupting, as you get in those settings, and Darvid kind of walked me up to Brooke and was like ‘here, go, I’m your support system’,” she explained.
“I think it’s just such an incredible testimony to the type of guy he is, but also the type of cast we had this season, she reflected.
“I didn’t get the girl, in the end, but I’ve come out of this with so many supportive people, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
“I honestly feel so lucky.”
Jamie-Lee has done The Bachelor before, which was where her love story with Brooke began.
They were both contestants on Nick Cummins’ 2018 season of the show, where he famously chose no one at the very end.
Jamie-Lee has confirmed that she was close to Brooke in the mansion, but when she left, she felt as though Brooke and Nick would end up together, and the timing had never been right to share her feelings ever since.
Comparing the two experiences, Jamie-Lee seemed confident that things had taken a step in the right direction for the franchise.
“The last season that I was in was incredibly catty, and not the case this season, and I feel like I’ve come out with so many amazing, incredible, supportive friends,” she said.
She also touched on how proud she was to be a part of the first ever season that featured both male and female contestants.
“I think it’s something that should have happened a long time ago, and I’m so proud of Brooke for putting her foot down and saying ‘no, we need this now, and I’m not going to do this without it happening’,” Jamie-Lee admitted.
With so much experience on the show, we were sure to ask if she’d consider being the Bachelorette, given that more queer seasons might be on the horizon.
“It’s something that I’d be open to, I’m one of those people that I like to go into life and not say no to opportunities,” she explained.
“If I’m still single and that comes up, there’s a potential, but at the moment I’m just kind of focusing on finding love, hopefully the authentic and normal kind of way,” she laughed.
Jamie-Lee has confirmed that she’s ‘open and hopeful’ when it comes to finding love, and there’s no bad blood between her and Brooke.
“We’ve had a few little text messages here and there, and we’re not incredibly close friends anymore, but we’ll always have that base of respect and friendship,” she explained.
“We’ve always been friends and I don’t see that ever kind of changing.
“I don’t think that we’ll be super close anytime soon, but we’re both supporting each other from afar at this moment.”
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