Life in the spotlight is never easy, especially if you’re a woman—something Abbie Chatfield can attest to.
Ever since rising to fame on Matt Agnew’s season of The Bachelor (who could forget *that* viral Gemini moment that even got the attention of A-listers like Sarah Hyland), Abbie has gone on to host her own solo podcast, It’s A Lot with Abbie Chatfield, as well as made several other television appearances, including Bachelor In Paradise, and most recently, being crowned the winner of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!
Safe to say, Abbie is a household name, and while she’s long been vocal about the abuse she’s received online—from negative comments about her body to slut-shaming—the reality star has revealed that recently threats got so bad, she was forced to move homes.
Appearing on NOVA’s Fitzy and Wippa on February 5, Abbie was asked if there were any “men we know” sliding into her DM’s, and while she laughed and said it was mainly female fans flooding her messages, she’d recently been subject to death threats that, after paparazzi released photos of her outside her Brisbane home, forced her to move.
“I get literal death rates,” Abbie told the radio hosts, going on to reveal the worst one she’s ever received was a voice note that has “a lot of the C words on it.”
“Basically like, ‘If I ever see you I’ll strangle you to death’,” she said on-air. “I live alone and I was papped outside the house that morning so I know that people knew where I lived, I live in Brisbane, and it was very obvious where I lived.”
Abbie said she went to the police about the potential threat but was told nothing could be done unless she was “physically hurt.”
Abbie is no stranger to speaking candidly about the trolls who regularly comment on her content, and in September 2020 the reality star took to Instagram to hit back at multiple anonymous commenters who continued to body-shame her, particularly one who—disgustingly—called her “Flabby Abbie”.
Abbie showed an array of screenshots that displayed the awful comments that she receives about her body. The comments range from calling her “fat” to “pathetic”, even accusing her of “pretending to exercise”.
In response to the hurtful remarks, Abbie wrote: “It’s been over a year of being in the media to a certain degree and comments like these only get a tiiiiny bit easier. Yes, they’re laughable. Yes, our value doesn’t come from our weight and yes, being ‘fat’ shouldn’t even be a bad word BUT it still sucks.”
She added: “It gets exhausting and I just want it to stop. I want it to stop for me, but also for people who read these comments and think it’s the norm. Speaking about women as objects, analysing their weight and saying you would ‘take them for a ride’ is especially repugnant.”
While it’s good Abbie has moved and she’s not afraid to speak up against her trolls, her actions prove that only bullying is as prevalent as ever, and they can cause damaging consequences to one’s mental health.
A reminder: threatening, bullying and shaming someone is never okay.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
