The cast for Bachelor In Paradise 2020 has been announced, and amongst the unlucky-in-love returners is Abbie Chatfield.
The bubbly and bold bachelorette came second to Chelsie McLeod on Matt Agnew’s season of The Bachelor last year in a heartbreaking finale.
What got people talking most about Abbie most, however, was her confidence and sexuality while on the dating show.
“We saw on the show there was this ‘Madonna and the Wh–re’ narrative the whole time,” Abbie tells Now To Love.
“I was obviously ‘the Wh–re’ and Chelsie was ‘Madonna‘.”
Abbie has since moved on from Bachelor, Matt.
(Image: Instagram / @abbiechatfield)Abbie was faced with a barrage of negative criticism on social media as a result.
“I was shamed because I was overly sexual or ‘manipulative’ which I think is a word that is thrown around a lot with women,” she explains.
So why would Abbie open herself back up to social media trolls by returning to the franchise? She’s somewhat asking herself the same question.
“I was really scared, but I got asked to do it and I thought, I may as well try,” she reveals.
Abbie is heading to Paradise to find love.
(Image: Network 10)It wasn’t further social media backlash Abbie was fearful of, however, it was immersing herself in the world of heartbreak she’d previously experienced.
“It [filming] felt weirdly more stressful,” Abbie says. “The whole filming experience reminded me of Matt.”
“When you’re in The Bachelor you’re in this surreal environment, then you leave and it’s quite easy to disassociate your feelings from that experience.
To go back in it, I felt the same way as I did in the finale, I was really upset. “
WATCH: Abbie Chatfield opens up about being slut-shamed on The Bachelor. Story continues below…
We’ve already seen from the first Bachelor In Paradise teaser that Abbie has her sights set on fan favourite, Ciarran, from Angie Kent’s recent season.
“I found Ciarran really fun, light-hearted, confident, kind of my equal in how outgoing he was,” she says.
As for whether the two find love together, or at all, Abbie remains tight-lipped.
“You’ll have to wait and see.”
The reality stars new podcast tackles femininity and toxic social standards.
(Image: Instagram / @abbiechatfield)Before all the drama begins in Fiji, you can see – well, hear – more from Abbie with her new podcast, It’s A Lot.
Spurred on by criticism from her time on The Bachelor, as well as messages of support from other women, Abbie talks about being a strong, sexual and nuanced woman.
“I’m really open about sex and dating, which is normal for me,” she explains.
“I’ve gotten a lot of messages from girls about things I speak about on my Instagram that maybe they don’t speak about with their friends, they’re embarrassed to speak about or they can relate to.
She adds, “People are so willing to accept that women are one-dimensional characters, so I’m trying to break that down.”
