Abbie Chatfield is one of the two people Brooke Blurton chose to grill her final two on The Bachelorette, but her surprise appearance has left many fans scratching their heads.
Though both women share similar reality TV backgrounds – each doing a stint on The Bachelor, then another on Bachelor in Paradise – casual viewers may assume that’s where their connection ends.
But it seems the dynamic duo are actually pretty good friends behind the scenes, and if you look closely, all the signs are there.
From podcast appearances, to cheeky flirtations and even a tearful video on Instagram, this is what Brooke Blurton and Abbie Chatfield’s friendship is really like.
Abbie and Brooke’s Bachelor journeys
Both women got their reality TV starts on The Bachelor and became darlings of the internet, making it all the more crushing when they both had their hearts broken.
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In 2018, Brooke headed into the mansion to meet Nick “Honey Badger” Cummins and made it almost all the way to the end, only to leave the show right before the finale.
Nick ended up choosing no one, so it looked like Brooke dodged some serious heartbreak by taking herself out of the running.
Brooke headed into the mansion to meet Nick “Honey Badger” Cummins but didn’t find love.
(Ten)But Abbie wasn’t so lucky when she appeared on Matt Agnew’s season in 2019, making it all the way to the finale before having her hopes dashed.
Of course, she reacted in classic Abbie fashion when Matt dumped her: by telling it like it was.
Getting in to the car as she left, Abbie said to the crew: “Get me the f— away from here. I want to go home.”
After their respective stints on the main franchise, both women went on to star on Bachelor in Paradise; Brooke in 2019 and Abbie in 2020.
Though their paths hadn’t yet publicly crossed, it was clear these two ladies would have a lot to talk about when they finally met.
Brooke hits up Abbie’s podcast
The dynamic duo first appeared together publicly in early 2021, when Brooke starred on Abbie’s podcast It’s A Lot.
But before that episode ever aired, Brooke actually asked Abbie out on a date – twice!
They never did manage to make plans though, Abbie revealing: “I said yes babe; when you asked me on a date, I said yes.
“But at the time, there was something called Coronavirus happening, and you couldn’t go to Western Australia.”
Fortunately, Brooke wasn’t too put off and was happy to build a friendship with Abbie instead.
“We’re the most platonic friends now. She fully denied the fact that I actually wanted to take her on a date and danced around the question [on the podcast],” Brooke told news.com.au in May.
That didn’t stop Brooke from flirting with Abbie in the recording studio and it was clear from the episode that the two women had a great connection.
They solidified their friendship afterwards, often liking and commenting on each other’s social media posts.
Abbie’s tearful reaction to Brooke being announced as the Bachelorette
From the moment Brooke was announced as the 2021 Bachelorette, Abbie was one of her biggest cheerleaders and that couldn’t have been more obvious than the night the season premiered.
Taking to Instagram, Abbie shared clips of herself in tears as she watched an emotional Brooke enter the mansion.
The 26-year-old Noongar-Yamatji woman was greeted at the mansion with a moving Welcome to Country, which had Abbie weeping.
“I’m so excited, that literally made me cry seeing her face up there,” Abbie captioned one clip on her Instagram Stories.
“Imagine how this is going to feel to every Indigenous person who hasn’t ever seen themselves represented.
“This is even like… for me, someone Bi, I’m crying. There’s the LGBT element. Oh my god, I didn’t think I’d cry and I actually cant stop.”
Fans loved seeing how supportive Abbie was of her friend, not even knowing that Abbie would actually play a role in the ground-breaking season.
Abbie’s cameo on Brooke’s season of The Bachelorette
Abbie has some strong words for Brooke’s final two.
(Ten)Fans were shocked when Abbie appeared in a teaser for the final episode of Brooke’s season of The Bachelorette.
It looked like she would be standing in for Brooke’s family and grilling the final two contestants – Jamie-Lee Dayz and Darvid Garayeli – with another of Brooke’s pals.
“That’s so unfair. I don’t like that. Grow up,” she can be heard telling Darvid in the preview and wow, those are fighting words.
The segment is set to air in the finale tonight and we have no doubt Abbie will have plenty to say.
Especially given that she went through her own brutal grilling when she was on Matt’s season and his pal Kate interrogated her.
“I’ve got to be honest,” Kate confessed when she took Abbie away for a private chat. “I was surprised to hear that you had come down to the final two.”
Abbie wasn’t sold on her either, saying: “She’s horrible. Why is Matt friends with her? She’s possessive.”
We’re guessing she’ll take some inspiration from her experience with Kate when she grills Brooke’s final two.
But before her cameo was even hinted at on the show, something else happened in the real world.
Similar taste in guys (AKA the Konrad situation)
Abbie confirmed the rumours she’s dating Konrad.
(Instagram)In November, reports started flooding in that Abbie had been spotted hooking up with Konrad Bien-Stephens, one of Brooke’s fan-favourite contestants.
At the time, he was still a frontrunner on the show and seeing him cosied up with Abbie left fans bewildered.
She and Konrad kept tight-lipped about the situation until his elimination aired, after which they confirmed their romance.
“As much as I’m super grateful to have met Brooke – Abbie, what can I say?” Konrad told TV WEEK. “She’s an amazing girl and I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
Meanwhile, Abbie shared some loved-up snaps on Instagram – but what did Brooke think?
The Bachelorette hasn’t publicly commented on Abbie and Konrad’s relationship, but she has reportedly unfollowed Abbie on Instagram.
Brooke makes her true feelings known
Brooke shared a statement to her Instagram page.
(Credit: Instagram)Now, Brooke has shared her true thoughts on Abbie hooking up with Konrad in an emotional Instagram post where she called her fellow star out.
“I’m not a hostile person and literally do not have any hate in my heart. Everyone who watched the show, or was on the show cast and/or working as crew, will know that I put my hear and soul into it and it meant a lot for me to open myself up so vulnerably like that. Not only that but for what it meant for the LGBTQIA+ and First Nations Community to have that display of representation,” she penned.
“Which moves onto my new point. The hardest point. For that to be tainted ONCE again by 1) What I thought was a close friend. 2) Another white woman displaying what white privilege looks like. 3) A very clear display of narcissism.
“Hurts me. Literally pains me,” she continued. “I’ve reached out to this person to resolve this ‘conflict’ which in fact, classic naive me, adult went to this person to communicate openly about the layers of complexity that this persons actions show and take away from NOT only me but what it meant for a queer woman of colour. If this wasn’t me, I’d still have this stance.
“You guys asked for my comment. There it is. Now go give them more air time which is what this is exactly about. “
Brooke sent Konrad home the week before the finale.
(Ten)Abbie publicly addresses the fallout
Abbie was quick to take to her own Instagram where she apologised and expressed remorse over how she handled the situation.
“I now understand the timing of publicly sharing our relationship should have been more considered and that is my fault. I acknowledge that impact outweighs intent. I didn’t take into account the Australian media landscape and the inherent privilege that I hold as a white woman,” she noted as part of the two-page apology.
Then a week later, on Tuesday, Abbie further addressed her clash with Brooke on her podcast, It’s A Lot.
In a show of accountability for her actions, she and her guest, style influencer and LGBTIQA+ activist Deni Todorovič discussed the drama from the proceeding weeks, aiming to create an understanding of how Abbie had been blind to the white privilege called out by Brooke.
Speaking to Deni, Abbie confirmed that she had been unaware of the impact her post would have had at the time she made it.
“I didn’t understand – I was neglectful in not thinking about the impacts of me as a white woman in the media.”
(Instagram)“I think people thought that it was a planned thing, that I waited for this date, but we literally were choosing the photos at lunch … we’d been papped quite a bit,” she said of her choice to make the post with Konrad.
“I didn’t think of the timing of the finale, and obviously through my other podcast, the recaps I had done, I understood the impact of this season, and the finale – we did a whole season on it.”
“But, I didn’t understand – I was neglectful in not thinking about the impacts of me as a white woman in the media, and a public figure, uploading that during that time, so that was very neglectful, it was a mistake, I wish I had waited three more days… that is what occurred,” Abbie said.
She also took a moment to explain the impact of her own white privilege.
“The white privilege … is me not thinking about the impacts of that post to the community. I knew the importance, but I didn’t think my actions would affect that,” she explained.
