Nobody understands the inner workings of reality television better than former reality star Abbie Chatfield.
As the host of the new show for Love Island Australia super-fans, Afterparty, the 26-year-old will be chatting to the Islanders, conducting exclusive interviews with celebrities, and sometimes, even the islander’s mums.
But while Abbie is determined to get the juiciest goss from the islanders, she’s hoping that her experience as a reality contestant will help her approach the show in a kind, caring way that others might not be able to offer.
“I’m so excited to bring a more empathetic perspective to Afterparty,” Abbie tells TV WEEK.
As the host of the new show for Love Island Australia super-fans, Afterparty, the Abbie will be chatting to the Islanders and conducting exclusive interviews with celebrities.
(Image: Nine)“I want to bring some understanding to whoever is the ‘villain’, or to when someone does something that I wouldn’t have done. I think we’re going to bring more perspective to it because I do understand how experiences get heightened in these environments.”
More so, she’s hoping that her experience on similar shows like Bachelor In Paradise, can help her gain the trust of the Islanders to get to the heart of what is going on in the villa.
“Hopefully they have more trust with me than they would be with someone who hasn’t been through what they’ve been through,” she says.
Hosting Afterparty has been an exciting opportunity for Abbie. After being crowned Queen of the Jungle on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, she moved to Sydney. Since then, she’s spent a significant amount of her time living alone in lockdown.
While she’s grateful that she’s had plenty of work on her podcast It’s A Lot, there were moments where she considered moving back to her home state in Queensland.
After being crowned Queen of the Jungle on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, she moved to Sydney. Since then, she’s spent a significant amount of her time living alone in lockdown.
(Image: Ten)“I was going to move back to Brisbane and then I got this opportunity,” she says.
“Then I thought I’m not going to move back now with this amazing chance. And I still think that Sydney in lockdown is better than Brisbane freedom.”
After her appearance on Matt Agnew’s season of The Bachelor in 2019, Abbie sadly received an onslaught of online bullying and trolling, something she’s determined to cover on Afterparty.
“It’s near impossible for me not be like ‘do not troll this person!’ of course I’ll be speaking about trolling, mental health and online interaction of any kind,” she says.
“You know, you can have your gossip but keep it to yourself or the group chat. I think these issues will be brought up a lot and I’m hoping people will listen to me.”
While she’s grateful that she’s had plenty of work on her podcast It’s A Lot, there were moments where she considered moving back to her home state in Queensland.
(Image: Instagram)These days, Abbie boasts over 300 thousand followers on Instagram alone. And now, with COVID misinformation spreading like wildfire, she’s determined to use her platform for good.
She’s launched a series speaking to medical experts to dispel false circulation information about COVID vaccines and the virus itself, despite the awful trolling she’s gotten along the way.
“I think it’s really important to share the facts, but I understand why people don’t do it. Anti-vaxxers can get really aggressive and out of control pretty easily. You know, I’ve gotten a few death threats and it’s been pretty intense,” Abbie admits.
“For me, the vaccine is a no brainer and I’ve never even had a second of hesitancy. I was so excited like ‘oh my god, we get a vaccine so soon? That’s amazing!’
