Bachelor star Brooke Blurton's traumatic past

Brooke Blurton made a great impression on Nick Cummins during last night’s premiere episode of The Bachelor, as she managed to score the first rose of the season and a special key to the Honey Badger’s Bachelor pad.

The 23-year-old from Western Australia not only spoke about her desire to find a partner, but her passion for working with youth, particularly Indigenous youth, through her social work.

Brooke herself has overcome a traumatic childhood after losing her mother to suicide at the age of 11.

“I grew up in a country town in Carnarvon. I spent my childhood there up until I was about 11. My mum unfortunately passed away. She committed suicide. That was a pretty hard time,” she told NITV program Noongar Dandjoo earlier this year.

“My nan actually passed away a month later so us kids had to separate. All my brothers and we didn’t have a lot of strong role models so creating that myself was my inspiration.”

It’s her experiences in the past that motivated Brooke to teach other Indigenous girls AFL and do mental health first aid instructing to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

“My biggest passion in life is mental health, [after] growing up with a lot of drug and alcohol violence in my childhood really,” she said during the interview.

“I had an older sister who suffered from schizophrenia so growing up so growing up that was pretty complicated and then losing mum to suicide.

“It wasn’t until I kind of experienced my own mental health problem that I was like this is something.

“My biggest goal in life is to make some sort of improvement with mental health in our Aboriginal community as an Aboriginal youth.”

Brooke is one of the remaining 22 women vying for the heart of Nick on The Bachelor.

If you are concerned about the mental health of yourself or a loved one, seek support and information by calling Lifeline on 13 11 14, Mensline on 1300 789 978, or Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800

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