Last night, one woman’s question to another aired on screens across Australia—it made its recipient, and the entire country, sit up straight.
“If I said to you, whose land are you on, where you live, could you tell me?”
The questioner was Gomeroi woman Amy Thunig, a close friend of this year’s Bachelorette and proud Noongar-Yamatji woman, Brooke Blurton.
Appearing in the season finale episode, Amy’s question for finalists Darvid Garayeli and Jamie-Lee Dayz went jarringly unanswered—something Amy later flagged to Brooke who, almost just as jarringly, didn’t seem surprised.
Ultimately, Brooke chose Darvid Garayeli as her winner, with the pair’s chemistry blissfully undeniable.
“I felt very proud of Amy bringing that up,” Brooke told marie claire, the morning after the finale aired.
“She was an absolute powerhouse for bringing those conversations to light. She’s such a genuine and authentic friend, but she’s also a complete realist.
“It’s a general thing too—it’s not attacking Darvid and Jamie-Lee for what they don’t know… Darvid owned that he was a bit naive to it, and wanted to learn—and that’s what it’s about, that intention afterwards. Everyone speaks about it but where’s the intent?”
She nailed it on the head—the conversation made many viewers stop and take stock of whether they themselves could answer the question. Some took to Twitter to continue the discussion, sharing educational articles and commending the show for raising it before a mass audience.
It’s safe to say this particular season of The Bachelorette was groundbreaking in more ways than one.
Brooke was also the country’s first ever bisexual bachelorette. With a cast list made up of both males and females, the conversations about sexuality and identifying as LGBTQI+ opened a thought-provoking dialogue that extended far beyond the screen.
“I was so honoured to be in that position doing so many different firsts,” Brooke told us.
“When you look at the season and how many conversations it showcased—and then to come out of it having had this beautiful experience with a very real and loving relationship—it’s incredible.”
The Bachelorette also reiterated that she felt no pressure from producers or contestants to choose a female contestant as her winner.
“[The producers] were so supportive and told me to choose whoever I wanted to choose. And honestly if Darvid was a girl I’d have ended up with him as well.”
Now, after such an incredible inclusive season Brooke only wants one thing for the future of reality television: “Let’s not go backwards,” she told us.
“This is all about progression now—people were really gunning for this this queer show. And that was a main focus of why I did this, I wanted to do it with integrity and authenticity and I think we achieve that.
“It showcased so much more depth and substance for a Bachelor or any mainstream TV show. it would be great to see that that progression and more of those conversations happening in other reality TV shows.”
As for the happy couple themselves, Brooke and Darvid are well and truly besotted with each other.
Their voices tired, yet filled with love, they told us about their big plans ahead—namely, Darvid moving to Melbourne to be with Brooke.
“I’m actually moving in today!” Darvid told us.
“But we’re really looking forward to spending some time off the grid for a couple of days and enjoying each others company,” he added.
“We’ve gone in leaps and bounds into the future, but we skipped the fun stuff you do in the beginning of a relationship. We’re looking forward to doing that too.”
