FBoy Island host Abbie Chatfield fires up over interview question she hates being asked
TV and radio personality Abbie Chatfield has called out a “misogynistic question” she is repeatedly asked when doing promo for her new dating series.
Abbie Chatfield has fired up about a “misogynistic question” she is repeatedly asked when doing promo for her new dating series, FBoy Island.
The TV and radio personality currently hosts the new BINGE show, which sees three women navigate their way through a dating pool of 24 men – 12 of which are FBoys and 12 are Nice Guys.
As host, Chatfield knows it’s her role to promote the show and interviews are part and parcel of the gig. But there’s one question she’s constantly asked by the press that infuriates her to the core.
“It’s pretty hard to offend me personally in an interview, but there’s a pretty cooked and misogynistic question I keep being asked about my role as host of #FboyIslandAu both privately and in press and I just want to address it once. I can’t believe I even have to do this, but it keeps coming up,” she wrote on Instagram.
“That question is ‘Were you keen on/did you want to f**k any of the contestants?’ ‘Were you tempted?’ ‘Did you use the show as your own way to meet guys?’
“The answer, clearly, is ‘No.’ As the host of a reality TV format, I would presume that is obvious. It is my job to host the show. No part of me enters that arena expecting a romantic connection.”
Stream FBoy Island on BINGE. New BINGE customers get a 14-day free trial. Sign up at binge.com.au
Chatfield – who became a household name as a contestant on The Bachelor in 2019 – also took the conversation to Twitter where she reiterated that she is a staunch professional and is on the show to work, not develop relationships.
“I am there to work, to control what is happening on set, and to gain the trust of the contestants and try to make them comfortable, as I have been a contestant myself,” she tweeted.
“Potential love interests isn’t even a thought that crosses my mind for a moment.”
“To be clear: I am not ‘resisting’ a feeling, it does not exist. I am the host and I hold myself to level of professionalism that, IMO, is very basic: don’t try to/want to f**k contestants??” she added.
“So, I’m making it clear now. I was not, and will never be so unprofessional to have even an iota of a thought that contestants on a dating show are anything close to a romantic interest. Please. Stop. Asking.”
Chatfield said she was well aware there was a “power imbalance’ between herself and the contestants, which she “would never breach” – and she said it’s “offensive” people think she would as it’s “highly inappropriate”.
“I work hard in every facet of my career. Hosting a reality format is no different. I’m a young woman who speaks openly about sex,” she tweeted in a follow-up tweet. “That doesn’t mean I’m some sort of fiend always on the lookout for my next fuck, regardless of where it comes from. I’m a professional, despite my age and gender.”
“When I’m asked this question I’m put in an incredibly uncomfortable position. I either imply that the contestants are undatable as a whole, insulting a group of 24 virtual strangers and also undermining the premise of the show.”
FBoy Island is now steaming on BINGE