Zoe-Clare explains Bachelor ranga rant after redhead comments
Ousted Bachelor contestant Zoe-Clare McDonald has detailed the extreme bullying she suffered as a young woman that led to her explosive “ranga rant” on the reality show.
Confidential
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Ousted Bachelor contestant Zoe-Clare McDonald has detailed the extreme bullying she suffered as a young woman that led to her explosive “ranga rant” on the reality show.
The 23-year-old is one of the most memorable contestants of the season after a first-episode showdown with fellow hopeful Areeba Emmanuel.
“Unfortunately I had been quite ill leading up to it so I had been on medication,” McDonald told Confidential.
“Having two drinks did not help. At the end of the day, my emotions were super heightened and it escalated to a ranga rant.”
McDonald, a sales manager from Queensland, took ill after the argument and was unable to take part in the episode’s rose ceremony with Bachelor Locky Gilbert.
“I was still sick for nearly two weeks after,” she explained. “I don’t think I have ever mixed alcohol and medication before so it is a learning curve for me.”
The argument started after Emmanuel interrupted McDonald’s one-on-one chat with Gilbert.
A heated confrontation ensued, during which McDonald spoke about feeling discriminated against over the colour of her hair.
“Some things were said in the house about it (my hair),” McDonald revealed.
“They were quite nasty. I don’t think anyone likes being called ‘the redhead’ instead of their name. That was hurtful. It is not nice to point out someone’s difference.
“I don’t understand my own ranga rant though to be honest because I don’t have a problem with my hair.
“I don’t have a complex about it, (but) when you have been bullied about something a lot in your life … it is a trigger.”
McDonald said she was bullied for her flame red hair as a child.
“People call you a monkey, or an orangutan, and my last name is McDonald so I definitely copped the Ronald McDonald stuff too,” she said.
“I learnt to laugh at it. It is something you grow to accept but people in society love to point out people’s flaws and their differences and target them.”
