Abbie Chatfield broke down in tears during an emotional Instagram video on Wednesday as she discussed her dating struggles while suffering from ADHD.
The Bachelor star, 28, who was last year admitted to a health retreat for ‘burnout’, shared the lengthy video shortly after going public with Peking Duk frontman Adam Hyde on her It’s A Lot podcast.
She began the video by thanking her fans for their support following her big relationship reveal, adding : ‘You know how hard of the time I’ve had recently and, you know, particularly in the past year or so.’
‘Like, all of 2023 and also in general, with men and dating and just in life.’
Abbie went on to explain it’s harder for her to be in a relationship than other women because of her ADHD and battle with ‘trauma’.
‘I never thought that someone would love me so much of my ADHD or with other trauma that I have. Like, CPTSD [Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder] and all these things,’ she tearfully said.
‘A lot of the stuff you guys don’t even know about, that’s happened. There’s been a lot of things really, really bad things that have happened, particularly last year,’ she added.
The Masked Singer judge said she had been cheated on ‘a million times’, but that didn’t even touch the surface of what she has been through.
‘Someone cheating on me isn’t even like, it’s not even like the surface layer of what I’ve been through in my life and in relationships,’ she said.
She explained that her new romance with Adam has broken the mould.
She said that she previously had a habit of hiding her personality from her partners – a behaviour she referred to as ‘masking’ – but doesn’t need to do this with her latest partner.
‘I always thought that I’d be settling in some way or masking in my relationships, and last night walking dinner and I just realised I never mask with Adam,’ she enthused.
Abbie concluded by sharing an encouraging message to fellow fans with ADHD who also struggle with finding love.
‘There is someone out there [for you], and if there isn’t, you’re going be OK and you’re better off alone,’ she said.
‘I know that’s weird to hear… but I wish that when I was single, I just let myself be a jellyfish in the ocean and like ride the wave rather than freaking out about it.’
The reality star urged her fans not to settle for an average man like a corporate guy called ‘Tom who works at PricewaterhouseCoopers’.
‘If you see yourself in me, then I know that you’re really unique and I know you probably don’t feel like you’re like normal… I know you’re really special, so it’s gonna take someone really special and you need to be with you.’
Abbie’s new-found happiness comes after a difficult few years.
In December 2022, Abbie sparked concern after she withdrew from a live podcast recording at the Beyond the Valley music festival in Victoria – just hours before she was due on stage.
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She posted a statement to Instagram the morning of the event and said that she felt utterly ‘exhausted’ after a challenging year and needed some alone time to refresh.
Abbie continued to scale back her schedule by putting her fledgling Verbose clothing line on pause in early 2023.
This came after a wave of complaints from customers who claimed that they hadn’t received their orders and had been ignored when requesting refunds.
In March 2023, Abbie also ditched a lucrative book deal that she signed back in 2020 with Affirm Press to write a feminist manifesto.
‘I tried to write, I couldn’t write anything,’ she confessed at the time.
She then spent a week at a Thai health retreat in July 2023 after suffering from burnout caused by an addiction to work.
In an emotional video at the time, the radio host explained: ‘I’ve been absolutely depleted and burnt out by the start of this year for a number of reasons,’ she said.
‘But I’ve been [at the retrerat] for about five days and I think I’ve realised that my priorities need to shift a bit, to be honest, I’ve taken on so many jobs and so many roles.’
She continued: ‘I’m trying to figure out what I do and don’t want to do and I’m trying to not push myself to work way harder than I need to.’
In August 2023, Abbie kissed her lucrative radio career goodbye in a move that shocked the industry.
Despite the success of her Hit Network show Hot Nights with Abbie Chatfield, the media star walked away from the gruelling gig to focus on her podcast, her budding television career, and her personal life.
Her exit came amid reports of turmoil behind-the-scenes of the Hit Network show after her co-host Rohan Edwards and her executive producer Max Corstorphan both abruptly quit under mysterious circumstances.