Sophie Monk reveals she's learned a lot about herself during The Bachelorette experience

She opens up exclusively to WHO. - by Cynthia Wang

While the finale of The Bachelorette airs on Ten in late October, Sophie Monk is doing her best to avoid spoilers by lying low and not even undertaking any new projects.

“I’m just going to sit out for a little bit,” she says, “because it’s been quite full-on, and also because I’m in lockdown for a while.”

Having completed filming the season in mid-August, that lockdown time has been more fraught for Monk than she could have imagined. “It’s really tricky,” she says of hiding her “happily ever after” from the world.

“Because you want to be together, but that’s just the way it goes. Especially at my age, too. I feel like a kid!” And to avoid temptation, Monk enlisted travel company Luxury Escapes to co-ordinate a three-week getaway to Thailand for herself and best friend Oscar Gordon.

Because I have a big mouth and can't lie I've had to evacuate the country and watch @bacheloretteau like this 📚📚📚😂 so blessed 😍😍❤️ @luxury.escapes @oscargordon Bikini: @seafollyaustralia

Monk said she had to leave the country for fear she would spoil the result for everyone invested in her journey. “I’m the worst,” she admitted. “If you say to me, ‘Don’t tell anyone,’ without a doubt, I’m on the phone already telling you a secret. It’s so hard. I want to tell everyone.”

Monk, 37, says dating in public is normally part and parcel of her life, but she wants to make sure her final choice is prepared to live in the limelight as well. “I think I want them to be aware of fame,” she says.

“Otherwise, they are going to take on a life they didn’t know they were going to take on, and I don’t think that’s fair, because it’s my lifestyle, my job.”

She adds after a pause, “I just wanted someone who supports me and doesn’t think it’s that big a deal and doesn’t want to gain from it as well.”

While she dates a number of the countries finest men on television, Sophie believes it’s been more about coming to terms with her identity. “I’ve learnt so much about myself,” she tells WHO. “Just to stand up for myself as well, because you can’t waste time, so you have to stand up and call people out if you think you can’t trust them.”

Trust is a tough one, says The Bachelorette host and Monk’s close friend Osher Günsberg. “This is probably the scariest thing for her to ever do because to be a part of the show, you really need to surrender all control of the situation, and that is something that she’s not really done before.”

For more on The Bachelorette and our chat with Sophie, pick-up a copy of WHO on sale now.