Brooke Blurton: ‘I’m not afraid to say what needs to be said’

Ahead of the release of her memoir in which she details her difficult upbringing, the former Bachelorette reveals to Stellar why she’s not afraid to tell her story and why everything people assumed of her is “completely incorrect.”

Brooke Blurton believes she has a superhero-worthy talent. It’s not incredible strength, flight, nor the ability to breathe underwater, but her gift is just as powerful, if not more so.

“I have this strong voice, which sometimes gets shut down by other people, but I’m not afraid to say what I need to say if I have to say it, in a place where people need to hear it,” Blurton tells Stellar. “I think that’s my little kind of superpower.”

“I have this strong voice, which sometimes gets shut down by other people, but I’m not afraid to say what I need to say if I have to say it, in a place where people need to hear it,” (Picture: Daniel Nadel)

Blurton earned her pop-culture bonafides when she vied for the affections of Nick “the Honey Badger” Cummins on the 2018 season of The Bachelor Australia and then quit the show – despite being the favourite. She returned to dole out roses on The Bachelorette Australia last year, making headlines as the first bisexual lead to appear on the global franchise.

But being a reality television maverick isn’t what Blurton wants her legacy to be. Before becoming a public figure, she earned a living as a youth worker, supporting young people to develop skills and confidence, and she’s since used her profile to raise awareness around mental health, Indigenous rights, youth and sexuality.

A proud Noongar-Yamatji woman from Western Australia, Blurton carries herself like a born leader: articulate, compassionate, open to discussion but firm on her views.

“I’m definitely heading more in that direction,” she says of her advocacy work. “I don’t want to be undermined as just this reality TV girl. I actually do have a lot of opinions around important issues. I feel excited about what’s around the corner.”

And that includes the release of her upcoming memoir Big Love in October, as part of a major deal with HarperCollins Australia – which will also see her collaborate with Bigambul and Wakka Wakka writer Melanie Saward to develop a fiction series for tweens and young teens, scheduled for release through HarperCollins Children’s Books next year.

While Blurton has been vocal about her difficult youth – she’s one of eight children whose mother committed suicide when she was 11, and she lost a sister last year – the full scope of her journey is set to be revealed in the memoir, which she is in the process of writing now.

“I’m not afraid of telling the details,” she says.

“I find a lot of power in helping people see themselves and that representation, talking about things that people are often afraid to talk about. Everything you thought of me and everything you assumed of me is probably completely incorrect. When the book is done, it’s going to be like a breath of fresh air.

“There’s a lot in there,” she adds. “It’s not just my story, it’s my entire family’s. It’s my brothers’. It’s my mum’s story. It’s my nan’s story. I feel more pressure writing this book than I did doing what I did on TV, really. You always want to tell the story with integrity, which is what I’ve done with everything in my life.”

“Safety is a big thing for me and an overarching theme. I don’t walk into a space where I’m not culturally safe.” (Picture: Daniel Nadel)

Speaking to Stellar via Zoom from the study in her Melbourne home, Blurton reveals that she’s arranged the wall in front of her computer with photos representing “a timeline of my life” for inspiration.

And chief among them are images from her West Australian Football League career – a stint, she says, that carried her through her toughest moments. “It gave me so much structure,” she says of her time in the WAFL.

“It gave me purpose, safety and this massive community of beautiful women and support that I hadn’t had from a younger age.

“Safety is a big thing for me and an overarching theme. I don’t walk into a space where I’m not culturally safe. I don’t get into a relationship unless I feel emotionally, spiritually and physically safe.”

In a mere half-hour chat, Blurton’s status as both a survivor and a strong woman comes across clearly. But while she says terms such as “warrior” apply to both Grace Tame – the 2021 Australian of the Year and cover star of today’s International Women’s Day issue of Stellar – and Brittany Higgins, her fellow advocate for victims of sexual assault, Blurton looks away as she considers if that label applies to herself.

“I think I have a lot of courage and bravery, but I don’t know if I’m a warrior,” she reflects.

“Grace Tame is such a trailblazer. She’s a courageous woman, someone I idolise – her and Brittany. They’ve set the path for us. I wouldn’t be able to do this if it wasn’t for them.”

News presenter and journalist Narelda Jacobs, who is openly gay, is another inspiration. “Narelda is just so graceful with her energy, her time, her career,” Blurton says.

“She hasn’t ever been controversial or someone who is like, ‘Look at me.’ She’s done what she’s needed to do and she does it with grace, poise and integrity to her community. She’s someone I idolise.”

Blurton says this kind of sisterhood and the marking of International Women’s Day is just as relevant now as it was when the day was first celebrated in the early 1900s. For those who argue that its importance is obsolete, she has both pity and the desire to bend their ears.

“I really feel bad for them that they can’t self-reflect and see the damage that comment would have on someone, and also themselves – because that’s a reflection on them,” Blurton adds.

“Women are backbones. The biggest quote in my life is, ‘If you’re an educated woman, you educate a community.’ I feel like women are our first educators. They’re nurturing our children and the generations to come. If you’re undermining women, you’re really just undermining yourself.”

Brooke Blurton features in this Sunday’s Stellar

Even so, Blurton longs for a day when International Women’s Day will be irrelevant. “I’d love to see more powerhouse women running our nations instead of these men,” she says, citing New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as an example. And while she says a seat at Parliament House in Canberra isn’t her “jam”, Blurton would love for others to pull up their chairs.

“Who knows about politics?” she says with a shrug. “But I want to continue being a voice for young people and those who don’t have one just yet, and try to elevate those.”

Becoming a mother is also something Blurton longs for. She regularly spoke of this yearning on The Bachelorette and it’s one of the reasons why she’s so publicly searched for a prospective relationship.

“I want my children to know where they come from,” she tells Stellar. “I want them to know that they belong in this world even though they may be made to feel like an imposter.

“They’re traditional owners of this land. I want them to know that no-one can take that away from them. They might feel like they don’t belong at times, but [I want to tell them],

‘You were always here and you always will be. And your ancestors always will be, too.’”

Brooke Blurton’s memoir Big Love will be published by HarperCollins in October.

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Originally published as Brooke Blurton: ‘I’m not afraid to say what needs to be said’