It’s over! The Bachelorette’s Brooke Blurton splits with Darvid Garayeli

Brooke Blurton says she was blindsided by Darvid Garayeli’s social media post announcing their split, just five weeks after their fairytale ending on The Bachelorette.

Bachelorette Brooke Blurton and her chosen winner Darvid Garayeli have split just five weeks after the show’s finale aired.

Blurton, 26, made the announcement on Instagram on Sunday and told fans she was blindsided by the 27-year-old Brisbane landscaper’s decision.

The Bachelorette’s Brooke Blurton and Darvid Garayeli seemed to have a fairytale romance.

The couple attending the wedding of AFLW star Sabrina Fredrick. Picture: Instagram

“I just want to say right now I’m finding this really quite overwhelming and just as surprising to me as you guys,” she wrote.

“I just woke up to the news. It was definitely agreed to part ways. I just wanted to do it privately, amicably and respectfully.

“This is not how and what I expected to be doing right now so, as you can imagine, this is all a lot.”

The Perth social worker has not publicly revealed the reason behind their abrupt split and requested privacy as they navigate the future.

Meanwhile, Garayeli also remained tight-lipped, only vaguely telling fans, “ … Things change and that’s okay.”

“Starting the new year off with an end to a chapter and hopefully the beginning of another,” he wrote on Instagram story.

“Unfortunately Brooke and I have parted ways. Whilst we both genuinely thought we were each other’s person, things change and that’s okay.

“Please respect our privacy and that at the end of the day we are both just people with real feelings.”

Brooke Blurton on Instagram on Sunday.

Darvid Garayeli on Instagram.

It comes after nightmare ratings for the Channel 10 dating show, which is going into its eighth season this year.

For the first time ever, producers cast both men and women as potential suitors for the proud Noongar-Yamatji woman, who made history as the first bisexual Bachelorette, but viewers tuned out in droves.

The show premiered to 397,000 metro viewers, which was significantly less viewers than season 6’s ratings disaster with sisters Elly and Becky Miles.

At one point, ratings for Blurton’s season plunged to a measly 253,000 across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

Only one out of eight Bachelorette couples is still together. Pictured season 6’s Elly and Becky Miles with their chosen winners Frazer Neate (left) and Pete Mann (right).

Blurton previously dismissed ratings criticism and said she’s proud to be part of a TV show that welcomes representation and makes a positive impact on the world.

“I don’t take notice of people’s commentary about the show’s ratings because I think it’s so unnecessary,” she told Stellar.

“Yes, it’s an entertainment value but it’s also my life. And if people can’t see the gravity of what this show has achieved, then I think they need to wake up because it’s not all about ratings.

“It’s about representing communities where they haven’t been represented before. And it’s about showing young people that love is so undefined. I don’t really focus on (ratings) – it’s not my priority right now. My priority is my life.”

Season 3’s Sophie Monk and Stu Laundy had the highest ratings.

The Bachelorette/Bachelor franchise was once a ratings juggernaut for Network 10 but viewership has steadily declined in recent years.

Interestingly, only one of eight couples from The Bachelorette is still together — influencer Georgia Love and Melbourne plumber Lee Elliot from season 2.

Every other Bachelorette couple, including season 3’s Sophie Monk and Stu Laundy who had the highest ratings overall, have split.

The show is a spinoff of the US version, which has a higher love strike rate as 5 out of 18 couples are still going strong.

One TV insider blamed the Australian franchise’s low ratings on “viewer fatigue” while another claimed, “I think people have realised that there’s little reality in reality TV”.

Confidential has contacted Channel 10 for comment.