‘Bogan’ Angie Kent set to break mould on this year’s Bachelorette
Self-proclaimed “grub” Angie Kent trades her trackies for chic, casual looks in white as she tells Stellar about her decision to be Australia’s latest Bachelorette.
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Usually, most girls wait a while before revealing their comfy television-watching apparel to a potential love interest.
For Australia’s newest Bachelorette, this simply couldn’t have been the case, given her potential suitors — along with millions of other Australians — had already been watching Angie Kent sit on the couch in her trackpants for years.
Kent, 29, is the first to admit she’s not “the typical Bachelorette Australia is used to seeing”.
The popular dating show, now in its fifth year, has seen glamorous personalities such as Sophie Monk, Georgia Love and Sam Frost seek romance while the nation watched.
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This time around, the show’s teasers have revealed Kent — until now best known for her ongoing appearances on the let’s-watch-people-watch-TV reality hit Gogglebox Australia — having undergone a Cinderella-style transformation.
Dressed in a gown by Melbourne-based designer Klovia, she nervously awaits the arrival of the gentlemen and suddenly realises she has forgotten to spit out her gum.
“Yeah, look — I am a bit of a bogan,” says Kent with a laugh as she recalls the moment during a chat with Stellar.
“I reckon it’s because I’m a Queenslander. But there are different types of bogans. There’s the kind who are kind of ignorant; I’m not one of those. I just like to get dirty, and I’d rather live in a jungle than a mansion.”
Speaking of living in the jungle, it was her stint on I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! that piqued Network 10’s interest in casting Kent.
“I left the jungle and my manager was like, ‘We have a meeting for you to be the next Bachelorette.’ I went along to the meeting and they said, ‘Do you want it?’ And I was just like, ‘Did you not just watch me in the jungle? I was disgusting! Do you seriously want me to be the next Bachelorette?’”
But as Kent models cool-casual looks for Stellar and jokes with the crew, it becomes obvious her easygoing personality is what made her a natural choice.
The marketing manager and support worker from the Sunshine Coast signed on to Gogglebox in 2015 with her best friend Yvie Jones, and her sense of humour and no-filter approach quickly won over viewers — as did the pair’s commitment to caring for rescue dogs.
“I’ve got a big mouth but a big heart,” says Kent.
“I think people see me and think, ‘She’s relatable, she’s a bit of a grub. We laugh with her and at her at the same time.’”
Kent entered The Bachelorette mansion looking for love, but there was no sob story to serve as added motivation.
In truth, she has been single — and happily so — for nearly a decade.
“I had three really good boyfriends right after the other,” explains Kent.
“I started at 16 and stopped at 21. After that, I was more interested in travelling and studying, so I have not had a proper boyfriend since.”
She also didn’t have a game plan when cameras started to roll.
“All I said was I didn’t want to be morphed into a stereotypical Bachelorette. I wanted to feel like I [was] still me — strong and independent — and that the partner I pick would match that.”
As for her TV suitors, Kent reveals she was extremely impressed with the line-up and says more than a few took her by complete surprise. She is, of course, tight-lipped about the end result, but does reveal: “I’m so very happy.”
And if the big smile that spreads across her face as she says it is any indication, there’s a very good chance she really means it.
* The Bachelorette Australia premieres Wednesday, October 9 at 7.30pm on Channel 10