Brooke Blurton doesn't want to be defined by her reality TV love story

After experiencing a whirlwind 12 months becoming the first bisexual and First Nations lead on The Bachelorette, falling in love and then going through a very public breakup, Brooke Blurton says she’s ready for the next chapter in her life.

The 27-year-old youth worker and LGBTQIA+ rights advocate has now appeared on three dating reality TV shows since her Bachelor debut in 2018, with her public profile increasing each time she gets more vulnerable on camera.

“I do feel like I put my heart and soul into The Bachelorette and I went through a massive year last year,” she tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “At the end of 2021, I was feeling really deflated.

“This year, I've kind of come out of my skin a little bit more and I'm trying to move away from that because I don't always want to just be defined by that. I've done some really amazing things and I will continue to do more amazing things.”

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Brooke has spoken openly about the public perception of herself in the past, wowing audiences in 2019 with her Ted Talk about identity and the labels she’s received in her life, yet she has a strong desire now to remove all expectations.

“I've realised that there is a view of me and what I should be doing and who I am. If that is how people affiliate me and it’s a positive way then I won't fight it, but it's not just all that I am,” she asserts.

“I love just being Brooke. I'm very multifaceted.”

'This is my true self'

Being in the public eye and working as an influencer post-reality TV, Brooke has been able to use her large online platform to collaborate with brands and talk about important issues that matter to her and her community.

She is currently an Oral-B ambassador alongside the launch of their new 3DWhite Lasting White Toothpaste, encouraging others to be confident within themselves through their #SmileWithLove initiative ahead of Mardi Gras.

“I think as I've matured and gotten more comfortable in my skin with my cultural identity and my sexuality, it’s a full-circle moment of being like, this is my true self,” she reflects about her own self-confidence.

“And I think there's a lot of depth to just being who you are and being proud of that and I think I've owned that over time. It wasn't always necessarily the case, but now I like the person that I am in terms of what I want to achieve for the world in the advocacy work that I do with young people.

“I think confidence doesn't always necessarily just come, you do have to work on it. But I think once you learn to accept yourself and who you are, then you’ve just got to own it. If you are your authentic self, you smile with confidence.”

'My self-love journey'

Confidence appears to be a major theme in Brooke’s life at the moment, as she admits she is now approaching love “with confidence but caution” just over two months after ending her last relationship.

“What I thought love looked like and what it should feel like is completely changed now. I’m looking for a holistic love, a little bit more authentic, a bit more real,” she explains, adding with a laugh, “We're moving away from reality TV to real love”.

And while she maintains that she is “definitely very single” at the moment, Brooke says that she isn’t entirely focused on obtaining romantic love just yet.

“I think I'm just finding a little bit more time to focus on my self-love journey. I know that sounds so cliché, but it’s a full-circle moment,” she details.

“It's made me realise that maybe what I'm searching for is actually within myself, and having a relationship and that unconditional love is just one small component of my life. I think I need to sort of shift my focus to things like community, family, spirituality, culture, and also getting myself to a place where I feel more confident than I normally would be.”

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