Brooklyn Willie is speaking out. After Monday night’s episode of The Bachelor, during which the 25-year-old rodeo racer opened up about her past abusive relationship, Brooklyn took to Instagram to share her reasons for getting candid with Zach Shallcross.
Willie took to her Instagram story to thank fans for the “love and support” she’s received since the episode aired. “I am so overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and support from everyone. It does not go unnoticed and it is more appreciated than anyone will ever know.”
Brooklyn’s emotional moment came after she and Zach had a fun day, full of riding ATVs and having a picnic on the beach. “I can fully see myself falling in love with him,” Brooklyn said after the fact.
Given that, Brooklyn felt comfortable opening up with Zach, which she’d never done before out of fear that it would “reopen wounds.”
Brooklyn began by telling Zach that she looked at her grandparents as her relationship goal, since she was unable to do so by looking at her father. While she vowed to never date a man like her father, she wound up doing just that.
She found herself in a long-term relationship that became both emotionally and physically abusive and left her as “a shell of a person.”
“I woke up one day and was like, ‘No, this can’t define me,'” Brooklyn told Zach. “I truly believe that if I wouldn’t have just woke up and got out, I can literally guarantee I would not be sitting here right now.”
In a confessional, Brooklyn revealed that, at one point, things got so bad that she woke up one night to the cops waking her up because she got knocked out.
“I’ve never had a reciprocated love,” Brooklyn told Zach, who went on to tell the cameras that he was “blown away” by Brooklyn and her story.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential.
The Bachelor airs Mondays on ABC. Stay up to date on all the drama with ET’s coverage of Zach Shallcross’ journey for love.