She said she cried almost everyday, "endured a three-month filming period living in anxiety", has been afraid to leave her house and has been plagued by online trolls.
She wrote: “No one understood how Matt could be constantly hearing about my perceived flaws and keep handing me roses. The public and the media assumed that I must be some sort of master manipulator, all due to nothing but the sentiments echoed by the women in the house. No one thought that perhaps I was being unfairly targeted in an environment that breeds jealousy and suspicion. Matt saw me for who I was and that’s why I stayed.”
In the finale, Matt chose Chelsie McLeod as his winner, leaving Abbie in second place. She said this decision was only made worse by the online trolls.
She finished up her essay by asking reality TV fans to be "kind" to contestants and to remind them that they are real people with real feelings.
It is not the first time Abbie has defended herself or her behaviour. In a recent Instagram post, she complained about being "slut shamed" for the clothes she wore and her steamy dates with Matt.
She wrote: “Things I got slut-shamed for on #thebachelorau: this bikini, my skort at hometowns, multiple cocktail party gowns, kissing matt ‘without a date’ and at a cocktail party (out of sight of anyone), pashing Matt in various locations with varying degrees of intensity, honestly admitting that I wanted to have sex with a man I was dating for 10 weeks and all around just ‘using sexuality to manipulate Matt’.
“This is something I did not expect in 2019. Sex is essential to a successful relationship for me, as is sexual chemistry and the ability to express that comfortably with my partner. I saw commentary around my sexuality (rightly) calling out slut shaming and double standards regarding my pash sessions with Matt, with responses of ‘I’m not slut shaming her she is just manipulative/dumb/aggressive/only wanting sex.’"
