Bachelor star reveals heartbreaking STI ordeal: ‘There is so much stigma’

By KINTA WALSH-COTTON FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Published: 04:31 BST, 3 April 2025 | Updated: 04:43 BST, 3 April 2025

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Bachelor alum Elly Miles has revealed she has genital herpes. 

The former reality TV star, 30, confessed on her Reclaiming Love podcast on Thursday she received the sexually transmitted infection (STI) from an ex partner.

She went on to explain she kept the highly contagious virus secret for some time because she ‘carried a lot of shame around’ over the diagnosis.   

‘I have genital herpes and it’s something that I picked up from an ex in my 20s. It’s something I’ve tucked away and hidden and carried a lot of shame around,’ she said.

‘There is just so much stigma attached to it. I think the perception of what it is, is so incredibly blown out of proportion to what the experience is like. 

‘Yet, I allowed myself to remain silent about it for a long, long time.’

Bachelor alum Elly Miles, 30, has revealed she has genital herpes

Genital herpes is a common STI which often spreads by skin-to-skin contact during sexual activity, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The symptoms vary from mild to severe from person to person, and may include pain, itching, or sores around the genitals or mouth.  

There is no cure for genital herpes, with patients experiencing recurrent symptom outbreaks after they contract the infection.    

The confession comes after Elly revealed she was ‘drunk most of the time’ on the dating show The Bachelorette.

She appeared on the series in 2020 with her sister Becky after making an impression on viewers during her appearance on The Bachelor in 2019. 

Elly confessed on her Reclaiming Love podcast she doesn’t remember much from her time filming the 2020 series because she had been drinking on the job.

In a heartbreaking admission, the former reality TV star confessed she would hide her liquor in a teacup while filming.

‘It was actually f***ing hard for me. I was drunk most of the time,’ she confessed to her podcast co-host Veronica Jayne.

The former reality TV star confessed on her Reclaiming Love podcast on Thursday she received the sexually transmitted infection (STI) from an ex partner

‘I don’t remember lots of it because I would have a teacup with Fireball in it and I’d be drinking that in the middle of the day.’ 

She continued: ‘Morally it didn’t feel right to me splitting my heart and pouring energy into multiple people when I was pretty sure I knew what I wanted to do.’

Elly and Becky’s season of The Bachelorette recorded one of the lowest debut figures for the franchise at the time, with 628,000 viewers.

Elly fell in love with concreter Frazer Neate but the two split later that year.

Meanwhile, Becky announced she split from winning suitor Pete Mann less than a week after they’d declared their love for each other.

Becky welcomed her first child – a girl – with her boyfriend James Bevin in 2022 and the couple are expecting baby number two in October.

The pair have been together for almost four years after meeting on dating app Hinge, and say marriage is definitely on the cards.

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Bachelor star reveals heartbreaking STI ordeal: ‘There is so much stigma’

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