One of the most memorable girls from the Bachelor premiere was 23 year-old model Vakoo Kauapirua.
Dressed in her hot pink ballgown, the model was a big character in the first episode but was notably absent from the end of the second, skipping the cocktail party and rose ceremony altogether.
But there’s a good reason why!
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Now To Love can exclusively reveal that Vakoo skipped the cocktail party and rose ceremony as she was struck down with conjunctivitis. Poor thing!
She may have been too sick for the formalities, but don’t worry she didn’t get booted without us knowing!
Despite the fact that she didn’t receive her rose on screen, it is understood that Bachelor Matt Agnew still wanted her to stick around and gave her that much sought-after rose while the cameras weren’t rolling.
Don’t worry! Vakoo is still in the running!
(Image: Network Ten)Now that we know for sure that Vakoo is well and truly staying in the running, we can look forward to some more fun moments like she had in the premiere episode.
The African beauty literally rolled out the red carpet for herself after practising her opening line of “Hi, my name’s Vakoo,” over and over in the limo.
Not only that, but she dropped some brilliant zingers, including “Bam, I’m pregnant!” when Matt caught her eye, as well as “Once you go black, you never go back!”
WATCH: Vakoo models for the mansion. Post continues after video…
She may be a confident character, but Vakoo isn’t going to be one of the mean girls in the mansion.
“I get along with everyone. If there are girls who are bullies or rude to other girls who can’t stand up for themselves then I will take on that sister role,” she previously stated.
And judging by her Instagram snaps and cute captions, she certainly likes to keep things positive.
Vakoo will not be one of the mean girls in the house.
(Image: Network Ten)This year’s cast is probably the most diverse yet, compared to the white-washed season that Nick Cummins had last year.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Vakoo, who was born in the African country of Namibia and became an Australian citizen with her mum in 2017, said that she’s “happy to be one of the first black girls on the show,” in its seventh season.
“There are so many standards of beauty so I’m really excited to be part of the season of diversity,” she said, adding, “I knew within myself that I was on the show because of who I am as person and what I have to offer.”
“I’m really excited to be part of the season of diversity.”
(Image: Network Ten)In a video titled Dealing with racism and going vegetation?? Q&A, Vakoo says that while she loves her dark skin colour, she experienced racism in her teens when she first moved to Australia with her mum 12 years ago.
“I’m a deep cocoa and I love it so much, I love my skin colour, you can try to offend me and you can’t – that’s today,” Vakoo confessed.
“Back when I was 16 I was so insecure about my skin, I hated it, I hated myself, I hated the way I looked… some of the stuff that happened when I first moved [to Australia] it wasn’t cool.”
