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Bachelorette Brooke Blurton reveals 'hugely personal' family tragedy
Brooke Blurton has broken her social-media silence after filming her highly-anticipated season of the Bachelorette to share some "hugely personal" and tragic news with her fans.
In a statement shared to her Instagram story, the reality star opened up about receiving the news her sister had died, and revealed her struggle to be able to mourn with her family as ongoing border restrictions made travelling difficult.
"I do like to think I live a very private life but I kinda felt like I wanted to share with you where I’m at. Something hugely personal and vulnerable," she wrote.
"On the 11/8 I just received news that my sister had passed away.
"Ive been trying to process that on my own being stuck in a Sydney Lockdown without my family, off country and by myself," the Indigenous Noonga-Yamatji woman added.
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Brooke said she had tried multiple times to get an exemption allowing her to return to her home state of Western Australia, and several unsuccessful attempts had left her feeling "depleted and distraught".
She thanked the "huge support from production and friends working tirelessly", before her exemption was finally approved on compassionate grounds on Friday night.
"I know we’re all doing it pretty friggen rough with the current world climate," she said.
"Look to the sky and lift your heads up. We will get through this."
Back in May, Brooke was announced as Australia’s next Bachelorette in what was a huge win for diversity and representation for the reality series.
The 26-year-old is the series’ first Indigenous lead, and the first openly pansexual star of the show, with casting for the dating show open to both men and women aged 23-35 before filming.
It will be Brooke's third time looking for love, after Aussie's first met the star on Nick ‘Honey Badger’ Cummins' 2018 season of The Bachelor, before she quit the show close to the end of the season. She then also made an appearance on Bachelor In Paradise, where she spent time with Alex Nation.
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