In 2021 Brooke Blurton made Australian TV history as the first ever Indigenous and bisexual Bachelorette. She was the reality star Australia was rooting for but when the cameras stopped rolling, the fairytale quickly ended.
Shortly after filming wrapped, Blurton was notified that her sister, Ky, had died suddenly in Perth – something producers kept from her for two or three days. She travelled to Western Australia to arrange the funeral but had to complete 14 days of Covid quarantine alone, while grieving her loss.
The Noongar-Yamatji woman also faced an online backlash for choosing a male suitor, Darvid Garayeli, at the end of the Network Ten show. She had a high-profile feud with another reality star, Abbie Chatfield. Then, a few months down the track, she and Garayeli split, a breakup that was thrust into the public eye against her wishes.
Now, with the dust settled, Blurton is setting the record straight. The media personality has just published a memoir, Big Love, which she sees as a chance to tell her story in her own words.
“The whole point of writing a memoir at 27 was about reclamation – taking back everything that has been written about me, what was said about my life and telling the truth of it,” she says.
Big Love also explores Blurton’s complex childhood, which was marred by the deaths of her mother and grandmother when she was just 11 years old. “The main concept is [about love] – something I have found in abundance, whether that was love from my family, my culture or from community. But more importantly, as well, it came from strangers.”
Here, Blurton explains why she counts two pieces of jewellery as her most prized possessions, and the stories behind other important personal belongings.
What I’d save from my house in a fire
My nana’s engagement ring and watch. They were the last gifts she gave me before she passed away. I lost her in 2007, when I was only 11.
I don’t have a lot of other photographs or the significant things that a lot of other people do, so these are the last things I have that remind me of my mum and my nana.
The ring has a dent in it from where it had moulded to my nan’s finger, so it’s like a little piece of her that comes with me every day. I hope to wear that exact same ring when I – possibly, maybe! – get engaged one day.
My most useful object
My journal. I take it everywhere – it’s always in my bag or on my bedside. It has a calendar, but I don’t really use that. It’s more for when I want to write down my thoughts or feelings, or need to remember something. I’m not as consistent as I’d like to be, but I definitely try to journal every day.
It’s also helpful for me because I try not to be on my phone as much as I used to be. So this is a tool I can use to escape being online.
The item I most regret losing
All of my football state jerseys. I played AFL from age 11 up until about two years ago. I’ve made state teams; I’ve won grand finals. These jerseys were a collection of memories for me. They were reminders of huge achievements in my life. They were something I could look at to prove to myself that I did that.
I must have lost them in the process of moving house and it makes me so sad, because now I don’t have anything to remind myself of what I achieved. Maybe I just put them in storage somewhere and one day I’ll open a box and they’ll be there. Here’s hoping.
