Despite having starred as The Bachelorette, a show that’s all about finding the love of your life, Brooke Blurton doesn’t believe that one person can meet all your needs.

“At the start of doing Bachelor I went in with a hope, and then it kind of led me down this unusual and crazy path. And then I did Bachelorette and again, I was still hoping. I’m a sucker for punishment,” she says, with a laugh. “And I do feel very strongly about love itself.”

“The dating world is so unusual, even just in its own realm, but when you put TV and cameras [in the mix] it kind of fast tracks a lot of stuff, you just have to be self-aware, you have to be really aware of what you want, and what you’re looking for.

Blurton is speaking ahead of the All About Women event in Sydney next month, where she, author Rosie Waterland, and Gamilaroi and Torres Strait Islander writer and actor Nakkiah Lui will discuss “Finding Love in a Hopeless Place” - a session name that could double as a tagline for the matchmaking shows on air currently. Blurton had a few relationships with contestants, but none lasted.

“I kind of figured out really quickly what I wanted for a relationship, not only just with someone, but with myself, with my family, with my community.”

The 28-year-old Nyungar-Yamatji mental health advocate, raised in Carnarvon in Western Australia, made history as the first Indigenous, bisexual contestant on reality television in Australia.

“It was showing a different love that people aren’t always exposed to: same-sex love and same-sex couples and sexuality... I know that it’s not the most genuine and natural, organic platform to show that but for me, there was not one part of it that didn’t feel genuine or authentic. Like I was really, truly in it.

“Unfortunately, I just felt like I got, you know, love goggles and rose-coloured glasses, which generally happens, right?”