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Sam Frost reveals battle with depression

Former Bachelorette describes "a very dark place" after being subjected to online abuse and media criticism.

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Sam Frost, who featured in last year’s TEN series of The Bachelorette, has spoken on radio today about battling depression.

Frost, who co-hosts a 2DAY FM breakfast radio show with Rove McManus, revealed she had been subjected to relentless online bullying.

During a recent Bali holiday she tweeted, “If you wanted to break me. Congratulations you have won.”

McManus said the tweet sparked concerns and reminded him of Charlotte Dawson, who took her own life in 2014 following a public battle with online trolls.

Today on radio Frost told McManus, “When I first started this job in November, you know I’d been dealing with a lot the previous two years. It was emotionally and mentally exhausting. I love my job, I love working with you every day, but I copped a really hard time.

“Everyone was so critical, the media were critical, and trolls were horrendous. I was getting so heavily trolled, and there were other elements to it that I don’t even want to mention.

“For about three or four months I’d go to work, I’d come home, and I wouldn’t even want to leave the house. I was in an awful place, a really, really dark place. I shut my friends out, I shut my family out. I’d come to work, go home, and stay in that dark horrible place. My relationship was struggling, because I shut Sash (Mielczarek, partner) out.”

“Sash said, ‘Sam, I don’t know what to do anymore, because all you do is cry, and you’re not talking to me.’ And I said to him, ‘I don’t want to be here anymore. I don’t want to wake up every day anymore’. It wasn’t until I said that out loud, because I’d just been bottling it all in,” she said.

“I saw the helplessness in his face and realised, it’s not fair for me to want to give up. I just had to find the strength …With my supportive boyfriend and my beautiful friends, I realised my worth. I’m worthy of a great job, I’m worthy of a great boyfriend. I just want to be the best version of me I possibly can.

“I’d been working forward and speaking to a professional — because I think that’s important to do. I went to Bali, I felt like I was all good, and then I saw the heavy comments.

“People were trolling, and making up fake accounts to talk to my loved ones, and making up lies about me. It just all fell heavily on me again. I’ve worked so hard to get away from that dark place, but these trolls are relentless and they’re pushing even harder. I don’t know why people think they can do that to someone.

“I’m a good person and I’ve done nothing but great things for people, I don’t deserve this.”

Frost has been been trolled and the subject of media scrutiny since her first season on The Bachelor in 2014.

“The best thing I ever did was admit to myself and a loved one that I’m actually not OK,” she said.

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Via: News Corp

12 Responses

  1. There is no place in society for bullying, I know I have been bullied for nearly my whole life, I have a problem with talking to new people, and people laugh and carry on, picked on and physically bashed. I thankfully have risen above this but it is not easy and in the days of Facebook, I am very careful to choose my friends very carefully and keep all information to friends only, and I do not follow all and sundry. Good on you Sam for talking about it, that is the first step to taking control back.

  2. I agree with TVTim. I’ve been in hospital with depression so know how dangerous it is but I’ve learnt not to do things that will make it worse. So wtf doesn’t she just get off social media?! It makes no sense to me. You don’t have to be on it, some of the biggest celebs in the world aren’t. You’re right David, bullying is not acceptable at all but that’s not going to stop people doing it unfortunately. People can only control their own behaviour so imo, she needs to close her accounts. They’ve still got the show ones that are moderated that can be used for promo.

    1. You are right Kristi. There was a recent discussion on Sunrise about this and it was suggested that she avoid any forms of social media.

      Generally speaking and I don’t want to be trolled for saying this – wouldn’t the world a better place if people are not so obsessed with social media to fulfill their self-obsession?

      1. Agreed. But it’d also be a better place if some weren’t so obsessed with using social media as a weapon in their nasty little genital-waving wars, or just for the lulz…

        1. Tex you’re exactly right, it’s a strange – almost evil – phenomenon. Trolling is the equivalent of writing something nasty about someone then photocopying X number of times and posting it to hundreds of thousands of people. Or following them around yelling it at the target. But… that’s a lot of effort so most people wouldn’t bother, now you can do that in less than 30 seconds. And it seems to grow, once they send the first hateful comment their internal ‘bad judgment’ filter goes progressively further down and they are just completely out of control.

        2. Totally agree Tex. What is the obsession with having to tell the world your every move, post inane photos received from someone, and post photos of your children? Tried just emailing anyone who is really interested in what you are doing, or phoning them, or actually visiting them? This anti-social media is nonsense, and dangerous.

      2. Oh good! I’m so glad people are starting to say to get off social media – not just to Sam but in general. I shut down my FB and other social media accounts a few years ago because it was really getting me down, I can’t imagine what it must be like as a celeb. I felt so much freer and lighter, it can get to be a very obsessive past-time and I think that can lead to self-obsession. I’ve only used TVT, Goodreads and PreviouslyTV since and it’s been much better. I ‘had’ to reactivate my FB recently to connect with women nearby using sperm donors (I’m 6 months preg) and it’s been a bit sucky. It’s annoying because it’s taken over so much of society, I tried to find another way to connect with others but there wasn’t one.

  3. I find this really disturbing as we don’t want to see Sam go through the torture that Charlotte Dawson went through. I have read a lot of celebrity Twitter and Facebook posts and many or most get trolled. Most choose to ignore and see trolls for what they are but some cannot and get deeply affected. Instead of shutting your family and friends out, Sam must shut the trolls out. Maybe open anonymous social media accounts just for family and friends.

  4. Whilst this is awful that it has happened, she chooses to remain in the spotlight. She could have faded away to a nobody after being dumped by whats his face, but then elected to be The Bachelorette, and considering that she was only ever in it to find love, which she then found, could have gone back to her everyday life happy that she had found her true love.
    But the thing is it turns out true love isnt enough so she goes back for more media attention and continues to do so. None of the other girls that have been focal points of these shows like Anna, Louise and Snezana have remained a media focal point as they have gone back to their everyday life after finding their love.
    But of course no one deserves to be trolled the way she has, but some times life is all about making decisions in what you want to do in life…..

    1. Not quite true. Anna was a regular on I’m a Celebrity, there are stories on Snezana in the press as recently as today. It’s important to remember that any career requires a certain amount of maximising opportunities. The answer is not that one should have faded into being a nobody but that bullying, whether in life or online, should not be tolerated. This is a delicate topic, and media roles do attract scrutiny, but it’s a conversation worth airing which she has helped do today.

    2. “But of course no one deserves to be trolled the way she has …”

      And, really, that’s all that needs to be said. The rest is just finding someone else to blame other than the people who ‘trolled’ (read: verbally abused) her.

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