Brooke Blurton’s surprising new romantic career
Queer First Nations media personality Brooke Blurton exclusively reveals how she’s turned her own “failing” at love into an unexpected new career move.
Stellar
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Her path to public recognition wasn’t an easy one, and nobody could accuse the former Bachelorette of shying away from discussing the hard stuff. Now, as the queer First Nations media personality and author sits down for Stellar’s podcast Something To Talk About, she provides frank insight on the Voice to Parliament and the dangers of tokenism – and lifts the veil on her romantic new career.
On being in and embracing what she calls her “soft girl era”: “It’s an era where you prioritise rest and doing things that require putting the energy back into yourself. I’ve had a crazy couple of years since 2018, when I did The Bachelor. My life has been full on. Last year, I was definitely on the brink of burnout. So I wanted to prioritise things that gave me more – work harder, work smarter… we’re not very good, in this day and age, at finding a perfect work/life balance. That can seem very taboo and unrealistic. But it’s actually quite realistic. You have to fail at some things, too.”
Listen to Brooke’s full episode of Something To Talk About here:
On how she is feeling as the upcoming Voice to Parliament referendum nears: “I’ve been a huge advocate and supporter of the Voice since the Uluru Statement was established and a Voice was put forward. A lot of people are feeling uneasy; there are different opinions and views. But I don’t feel nervous. I feel passionate about it.
People need to know that this referendum is going to give First Nations people an opportunity to have advocacy – it’s not just the end, it’s only just the beginning. It always feels like we’re a little bit on the back foot [and that is] because of colonisation. Until we actually start righting our wrongs, then nothing’s going to change. The referendum is a step in the right direction. People can say, ‘Ah, but [some] First Nations people don’t want it.’ We’re not always going to agree. White Australians don’t all agree on the same thing. We don’t [either]. But a majority of us believe that the Voice can contribute to the change we need.”
On how she’ll feel if the Voice is not supported in the referendum: “I’m already, in a sense, prepared for it to be a no vote. Because that’s basically what Australia has been doing for my life, my mum’s life and my nan’s life, and my ancestors’ lives. So it would be really disappointing... but the fight will continue, and it will only shine a light on the level
of racism that Australia has. I’m not calling everyone who says no a racist. I’m just saying that a lot of people haven’t done the work, and haven’t considered us as people of value. That’s what it tells me. I don’t believe we deserve that.”
On how non-Indigenous Australians can work to avoid “performative allyship” and acts of tokenism: “It’s a pretty loaded question, and I have a very short period of time to talk about it [here]. I grew up feeling uncomfortable in my own skin, but not understanding where that came from. [I lived] in two worlds, having to progress in western society, but also growing up black and asking: where do I fit in? Feeling like you don’t belong isn’t a nice feeling. Growing up and not seeing myself represented on shows and billboards and in babies and in toys, it kind of felt like this world wasn’t really built for me. I don’t want any other little Brookes running around thinking they don’t belong in this world. I think that’s why I pushed barriers and challenged so many businesses, organisations, people I worked with, because I’m like, I don’t want to just tick the box for you. I want to know what work you’re doing. I’ve found a lot of people are performative, and that really disappoints me. It’s about acknowledging your privilege and understanding that. There’s not just one way of doing or looking at things. We’re so diverse. We need to understand that it’s not just one day
or week of the year – when it’s NAIDOC Week or Pride Week or Women’s Health Week. It’s a 365-day thing.”
On reactions to her memoir Big Love, which was published in October 2022: “The general consensus is that I make people cry. My intention or motivation is actually the opposite. I want to make people happy. But unfortunately, most of my life was a bit sad and uncomfortable and raw. I have to be really honest and roll with that: this part of my life wasn’t the easiest. But the thing is – and that’s what Big Love actually really encompasses – through overcoming adversity, you can have love and you can find love.”
On her upcoming professional plans: “Writing fiction for young teens. I just recently landed a role in an Australian film; I’ll be working on that this year. And I can’t believe I’m saying this out loud, but I’m also studying to become a marriage celebrant. I failed at falling in love myself, so I will just marry people instead. I was the maid of honour for five different queer couples. I was helping them with their wedding, and we decided that if I was to get my marriage celebrant’s licence, then I could actually marry them. And so we’re hoping for Mardi Gras next year [to] have this underway. It’s so beautiful to know you can help couples get married and share their love. I’m such a sucker for love. When people are in love, it’s not always happy – I get that. But there’s such a raw happiness within it. Maybe I’m just addicted to that.”
Brooke Blurton co-hosts the podcast Not So PG with Matty Mills. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Read the full interview inside The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (VIC), The Sunday Mail (QLD), and Sunday Mail (SA) this weekend.
Originally published as Brooke Blurton’s surprising new romantic career
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