Opening up.
Bachelor Nation got to know Carolina Quixano on Season 29 of “The Bachelor,” and while on the show, she got candid about her journey with epilepsy and what it’s like living with an invisible disability.
Now, she’s joining Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt on “Bachelor Happy Hour” to discuss how her epilepsy affected her time on the show and whether she regrets not telling the other women about it.
With regard to how it affected her on the show, Carolina shared that she was afraid she wouldn’t get casted due to her epilepsy.
“Going through the process, I was really worried that having epilepsy would prevent me from being chosen to go on the show,” she admitted. “It’s affected me in jobs before, and I didn’t want to feel like a liability. I didn’t want to not be chosen because of that because I’ve managed to control it. But I know that people make assumptions and they might think that it’s too much to deal with.”
She did reveal, however, that although it felt scary for her to open up, it was a liberating experience once she did.
Carolina shared, “It felt so liberating as well to just be able to talk about it. Like I’m now talking about it without crying, this was never a thing. The few times that I had talked about in my life, I would just sob the whole time. So production being so supportive made me want to try to open up more and it was scary for sure. I mean I need more rest than most people, and I didn’t know how that would work with scheduling and hours and filming. But we were able to make it happen and I was really grateful for that.”
Joe and Serena then asked Carolina if she regrets not telling the other women about her condition, to which she replied that she has mixed feelings.
Carolina shared that, "I do think that things could have been different. You know, people are mad at me for taking a nap. People are mad at me for saying that I regretted opening up on the date, and they didn’t know the extent of why that was… This is a big thing for me and I didn’t tell them why this whole thing was so strenuous for me. They didn’t understand why maybe I was more tired and maybe seemed more low energy or more sad or reserved. So I do think maybe it would’ve been different, but I also think that people need to just let people breathe.”
Joe and Serena also asked what she wants people to know about epilepsy, and Carolina shared that she hopes people know it affects everyone differently.
“I think everyone’s epilepsy is different, and that’s a good place to start. For example… I don’t struggle with lights,” she answered. “And I wanna say, don’t be afraid to ask questions as long as you’re being respectful and coming from a place of wanting to learn and understand and help those around you. Epilepsy can affect your mental health. It’s all in your brain, it can affect so many things… So just to be kind, to be respectful, and just try to have some empathy. Because you don’t always know what everyone’s going through.”
If you want to hear more of Carolina’s conversation with Joe and Serena, check out the full episode of “Bachelor Happy Hour” below!
