The Bachelor’s Simone Ormesher was travelling in the car with a fellow contestant Cobie when she googled herself as a bit of a joke.
Her name came up immediately, so too did a few photos, and a story from 14 minutes ago.
Her name, her face and her bare breasts had been brandished across the internet. She hadn’t been told, hadn’t given consent and hadn’t been asked for comment.
Just her boobs, her face and her reputation.
“I burst into tears and I was shaking. We pulled over quickly. My mum told me she was expecting it and that it doesn’t matter. It’s not like I am involved in drugs or anything like that, it is my body and I can do what I want,” Ormesher tells Mamamia, a week after she was eliminated from the house.
This circumstance wasn’t one she was expecting, she says. Sure, she expected her past job in topless waitressing to come out in the show, but photos of such an invasive and personal nature? Not so much.
“It was horrible. I wasn’t expecting it. I was expecting it to come across on the show, but the way it was done, it was a bit like bullying, like I should be ashamed of it.”
Ormesher admits, at the end of the day, she was “dead gullible” for not thinking photos like this would come out. But of course, the blame lies nowhere near the tops of her shoulders. An international publication got their grubby hands on them and, with nothing more than a few lines and the push of a button, sent them out into the world.
Oh, and without letting her know, too.
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“I did feel so supported by the public and I have had so many messages of support. So many people were like, ‘Why is this even making news? It’s so pathetic, there are bigger things going on.'”
It wasn’t just the publication who posted the photos who bore the brunt of the criticism, but the show itself. In fact, in the episodes where both Ormesher and fellow contestant Leah Costa were “exposed” for daring to yes, bare their breasts in the past, were accused of having sexist undertones brimming with “slut shaming”.
“I didn’t like how confronting they made it,” Ormesher says of the episode in question.
“I didn’t need to say it. I felt forced to have to say it. They said it’s going to come out anyway, you might as well say it on the show. But we hadn’t even been on a date.”
Despite it all, Ormesher says she has “no regrets at all” about going on the show.
“I am so glad I did it. I have made amazing friends. I have nothing to hide, so I am not going to let one thing overshadow the whole experience.
“It doesn’t matter, people’s line of work. I would love people to know that.”
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