Liam Cooper made history this year when he became the first openly bisexual groom to appear on Married at First Sight.
Now, Brooke Blurton is making her own mark on reality TV as The Bachelorette‘s first openly bisexual lead, where both men and women will vie for her heart.
Liam fears Brooke’s sexuality will be “exploited” for ratings.
(Image: Nine)While the franchise has been commended for celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community, Liam admitted he fears Brooke’s sexuality will be “exploited” for ratings.
“I do worry, because I know females who are bisexuals get treated differently to males who are, and get objectified and glorified more in this sense,” the 30-year-old told The Wash.
“I’ve noticed that with females who are bisexual, it’s more of a “hot” and “sexy” thing and then becomes more about this, rather than celebrating their sexuality.”
Liam said he knows some men who are only going to tune in to Brooke’s season in the hopes of seeing her kiss another woman, rather than to celebrate how far the queer community has come.
Despite his reservations about the viewers’ reactions to the show, Liam said Brooke – a proud Noongar-Yamatji woman – is “going to do both the Indigenous and the LGBTQIA+ community proud.”
Unfortunately, Liam knows all too well the backlash that can come from being open and honest about sexuality on reality TV.
Liam, whose onscreen relationship with Georgia Fairweather didn’t go the distance, previously said that while most of the public was supportive and understanding of his sexuality, he still copped flack from homophobic trolls.
“[There were people who] didn’t really understand it, who were always questioning my sexuality, who were stating now I’m actually gay you can’t be bisexual, it’s a transition period. So it was a mixed message,” he said.
Liam said the reaction among his family was also mixed, and revealed his aunty confronted him and demanded he admit to being gay.
“My aunty at the time pulled me up and was like ‘you need to tell me that you’re gay. Like you are gay, you can’t be bisexual, you’re gay, you need to tell me this’,” he said.
“She wanted me to say that I was gay when I’m not.”
Eight women and eight men have been cast on Brooke’s upcoming season.
(Image: Ten)And while Brooke is over the moon about her new gig as the Bachelorette, the role didn’t come without fear.
When she was first approached to hand out the roses instead of receive them, she admits she was “absolutely petrified”.
“I was scared. The last two times, I didn’t come out of this how I would have liked to. But being the Bachelorette, I thought, ‘This is my chance to actually define who I want in a person.’ And they were casting for me, so I knew my chances of finding love were much higher,” she told TV WEEK.
Brooke admitted she was initially “petrified” to be the lead of The Bachelorette.
(Image: Ten)When we first met the youth worker on Nick “The Honey Badger” Cummins’ season in 2018, her sexuality was quickly thrust into the spotlight. Even though the then 23-year-old was always upfront about it, she couldn’t wrap her head around the way her story would be portrayed.
“It was an unusual world for me to be in. I’d never really defined myself by labels, and it’s hard when you’re seeing articles in the media putting labels on you that don’t necessarily fit,” she said.
“I’ve been so open and honest about most things in my life, so I wanted my story to not be manipulated or changed in any way to come across as disingenuous.”
.png?fit=128%2C79){kind=avatar}