Georgia Love opens up to Stellar about being ‘cancelled’ amid ‘racism’ scandal

The former Bachelorette and TV reporter has opened up about being “cancelled” amid heavy backlash over a “racist” Instagram post in 2021.

Georgia Love has opened up about being “cancelled” after she faced heavy backlash and was accused of casual racism over a social media post in 2021.

The former Bachelorette sparked widespread backlash for posting footage of a cat behind the window of a Melbourne dumpling house and writing “Shop attendant or lunch?!”

While Love deleted and apologised for the video, her response was rejected by many who viewed it as not addressing the “casual racism” it showed towards Asians.

In a new interview with Stellar magazine, out today, the ex-Channel 7 reporter admitted she had shared the image through a “privileged lens” and had “put no thought into how it could be offensive”.

She added that once it was pointed out to her, she was “absolutely mortified” and “took it down immediately”.

“I understand that was too late and not enough for a lot of people,” Love told the publication.

“Knowing that I caused offence, hurt people and made people feel marginalised in that way is still really upsetting to me.

“I didn’t want anyone to think I would purposely upset or offend anyone; to this day I’m so deeply sorry for the fact that I did.”

The former TV reporter’s post sparked major backlash.

Love went on to say that it’s a post she “deeply, deeply” regrets and delved into the toll the heavy ensuing backlash had on her.

“It was awful, to be really honest. It was a really bad time,” she admitted, adding it also had an impact on her loved ones.

“I felt horribly guilty about the effects this was having on other people in my life.”

During the in-depth conversation, the former reality star condemned the use of “cancellation” on the whole.

“To think that we have the ability to cancel somebody – whether that means from their industry, their job, their family and friends … We don’t have the ability to do that,” she told Stellar.

“Everyone is in charge of who they are as a person and how they move forward in life.

“Whoever we’re talking about who’s been through some kind of pile on or fallout or has said something wrong in a public space – these are the people we should be talking to and learning from in terms of, well, why did you say that?

“So often people aren’t given that space to talk about it in the heat of the moment.”

In February 2022, just months after the social media scandal, Love revealed she’d resigned from her position as a Channel 7 Melbourne reporter to take on a new role as senior public relations and content manager for The Good News.

Georgia and her husband, Lee Elliott at the races last year. Picture: Sam Tabone/Getty Images

The journalist and reality TV star had begun her TV career as a news anchor for WIN News in Tasmania, where she worked for two years in Launceston before moving to Hobart.

In 2016, she appeared as the Bachelorette on season two of the Ten reality series, where she met now-husband Lee Elliott.

The reality TV couple tied the knot in 2021.

Love then returned to her hometown of Melbourne and stayed on with the network as a weather presenter, with occasional appearances on Studio 10.

In February 2021, she announced she was moving to Channel 7 as a reporter, but in September, was moved to the production desk following backlash over the “racist” post shared on her social media account.

Opening up to Stellar this week, Love revealed her “absolute dream job” would be as a contestant on Dancing With The Stars.

“I realise that’s not a long-term job, but that’s on the vision board,” she told the magazine.

“Beyond that, I just want to keep pursuing that passion that I have for the media industry and keep working on helping people have that platform to share their stories. That’s really at the base of everything I’ve always done.”

Read the full interview with Georgia Love in this week’s Stellar, included in the Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Herald Sun.

You can also listen to her on the latest episode of Something To Talk About, available wherever you listen to podcasts.