Channel 10 made history this year when they cast Brooke Blurton as Australia’s (and the world’s) first ever indigenous and bisexual Bachelorette.
And while so far the ratings haven’t skyrocketed, the revamped dating show has already dominated headlines and generated overdue conversations around diversity on television.
Despite the disappointing premiere audience numbers, Channel 10 has stood by its decision to deviate from the usual format and have both men and women vying for Brooke’s heart.
Despite the disappointing premiere ratings, Channel 10 has stood by its decision to deviate from the usual format and have both men and women vying for Brooke’s heart.
(Image: Channel 10)Jarrod Villani, the executive vice president of ViacomCBS ANZ, which owns the network, said the decision to cast Brooke as the leading lady was to ensure all Aussies can be represented on television.
“It really does represent all of Australia, and puts fabulous diversity on our screen,” he told TV Tonight.
“We are very conscious as an organisation that when you take steps forward, and believe in a direction from a cultural perspective, then you do open yourself up to criticism. And we’re okay with that.”
Jarrod added that the company is conscious that it will make mistakes every now and then, but said it’s about using Channel 10’s platform to ensure that “diversity and inclusion is a message heard loud and clear across Australia.”
But the network surprisingly didn’t have as many deep discussions about casing a bisexual lead as you might have thought.
“It might have been harder earlier, I think, but given the environment that we’re in now, and given Australians’ expectations, I think it’s the right time. More importantly, she is the right person, because that is really who she is. I think people know that and they believe her,” Beverley McGarvey from ViacomCBS ANZ said.
“If there’s certain elements of the audience that complain, they have options, so we hope that it really resonates with the people that it’s made for.”
After debuting on Nick Cummins’ season of The Bachelor in 2018, then returning for a stint on Bachelor in Paradise season two, Brooke is all too familiar with how the shows work.
This week, Brooke told TV WEEK that being position really opened her eyes to just “how much say” the person in the leading role has.
Channel 10 made history this year when they cast Brooke Blurton as Australia’s (and the world’s) first ever indigenous and bisexual Bachelorette.
(Image: Channel 10)“I think you’ll always learn something about yourself in this experience and my perspective this time around was to lean into it,” she said.
Adding that her most recent experience with the franchise gave her a whole new appreciation for “how great the crew are”, it’s clear Brooke had a good experience with the production team.
“Everyone is super supportive and wants to see this work out. They put their heart and soul into it, and you’ve got to give them credit for it,” she said of the crew before adding that she hopes to do LGBTQIA+ and bisexual representation justice.
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