Facing her 'demons': Why Bachelorette Angie Kent finally put herself - and love - first

There’s no doubt that this year’s Bachelorette, Angie Kent, has already captured Australia’s heart courtesy her appearances on both Gogglebox and I’m a Celebrity, and now the bubbly 29-year-old is about to put her own heart on the line on a third reality TV show.

And right of the bat, we can tell you that yes, Angie’s leap of faith on The Bachelorette Australia 2019 has paid off. Of the 20 handsome suitors on her proverbial dance card, she has found ‘the one’ - but there’s no spoiler alert required as the Sydneysider is, at this stage, staying mum on exactly who the lucky lad is.

“I really happy,” she admits in an exclusive chat with Yahoo Lifestyle ahead of the show’s highly-anticipated premiere, but quickly adds that she doesn’t want to “give away too much”.

“[It’s] something I’ve put my whole heart and soul into and I want you guys [viewers] to join in with me and see what happens in the end,” she explains.

Putting love first

What the Sunshine Coast beauty can reveal is the life-changing experience that pushed her to prioritise not only herself but her love life for the first time in a very long while.

“I’ve spent all my life putting everyone else before me and I wouldn’t focus on what was going on within,” she says.

“Instead I’d dive into rescuing dogs or being a support worker or living with [her and pal Yvie Jones’ friend and old flatmate] Tom, who has Down Syndrome,” she adds.

“I didn’t have time to think about myself and I quite liked that because I didn’t want to face my demons,” she reveals.

That all changed when Angie signed on for season five of I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! which saw her, along with a variety of other well-known Aussies, dropped in the South African jungle with little more than the clothes on their backs.

“I got to the jungle and I was like, ‘Woah! This is me and I hadn’t seen ‘her’ for such a long time, the ‘real’ Angie’,” she says of her 29-day stint on the show.

Ready for romance

Stripped of all worldly comforts and contact with the outside world, Angie says she began to reconnect with and appreciate her self again - and what she discovered she “quite liked”.

It was during a candid heart-to-heart with fellow campmate, former Today entertainment reporter Richard Reid, that Angie experienced her ‘aha-moment’.

“I was chatting to Richard and I was like, ‘I would love love. I haven’t had it and I think I’d be good at it’,” she recalls.

And after spending most of her twenties “soul searching,” travelling and focusing on her career, as well as “going through some hectic life experiences,” including losing two grandparents in 2018, the time was finally ripe for romance.

“I thought, ‘You know what, I’m ready for love, I’m quite lovable and I’ve got a lot of love to give and I think I should receive some for a change!’” she adds.

Angie’s ‘vulnerable’ side

Angie reveals that she’s excited to show the country yet another side to the ‘TV’ Angie we’ve grown to love over the past few years.

“I hope Australia will take me as I am knowing that I did this for the right reasons and I’m 100 per cent myself,” she says.

Viewers can expect to see more of a “raw, vulnerable” side to the funny, lighthearted Angie as she puts herself out there in the name of love.

“I haven’t dated properly in eight years [so] it’s doubly vulnerable doing it in front of Australia,” she says.

And Angie assures us that what you see is what you get largely because she’s not very good at hiding her emotions. “I never could be anything else, I’m no actress,” she reveals.

“If I’m happy, if I’m sad, I can’t control it,” she laughs.

Our ‘bogan’ Bachelorette

As for the infamous promo in which a trackie-pants-wearing Angie proudly declares she’s “Bachelorette up the top, bogan on the bottom,” the former marketing and production worker has a few regrets.

“‘Bogan’ might not be the right word [to describe me],” she giggles.

“I don’t know about Australian cars and I don’t eat sausages or froth on kangaroos ... maybe I’m not a good bogan?” she asks.

She thinks she’s “maybe more of a grub,” but, seeing her all dolled up in a sparkly, silver gown on the red carpet in episode one, we beg to differ.

Who are the bachelors after Angie’s heart?

So far we’ve met two of the 20 suitors aged between 25 and 39 who will be vying for Angie’s attention.

One is Ciarran Stott, a 25-year-old ex-army rifleman who calls himself “fun, flirty, flamboyant and fabulously British” and puts on an impromptu twerking display at the first cocktail party.

Then there’s Timm, a 27-year old fireproofer from Victoria who gifts the bachelorette a bouquet of sunflowers, coincidentally her late nan’s favourite flower.

And, of course, in an Aussie Bachelorette first, Angie’s little brother, Brad is set to go undercover among the men to weed out the love rats and guide his sister to find her perfect match.

Angie says that while it was “so funny” watching her bro pretend to have the hots for her, Brad was very serious about his “big responsibility”.

“I don’t want to give away too much,” she says when asked if Brad’s mission was a success.

“I just want everyone to watch it and experience it with me,” she adds.

The Bachelorette Australia premieres 7.30 pm Wednesday, October 9 on Channel 10.

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