Bachelor winner Fleur Verhoeven is doing presentations in school around Hawkes Bay, focusing on topics such as self-esteem and bullying.
Jilted bachelorette Fleur Verhoeven is starting a new career as a motivational speaker in an attempt to encourage pre-teen girls to be kind to one another on the internet.
The blonde star famously spoke out to end the relentless online attacks against the man who broke her heart.
Now, speaking to the Herald as part of our cyberbullying campaign Stop the Hate, she has revealed her plans to tour intermediate schools in Hawkes Bay to tell girls to follow her example.
The Dutch beauty, who was picked by Bachelor Jordan Mauger in reality TV show The Bachelor only to be dumped 72 hours after the final, is using her new-found fame to encourage girls in the critical pre-teen years to respect themselves and others.
Ms Verhoeven, an aspiring social worker, said the topic was something she had been passionate about for many years.
Since opening up about her struggle with depression, she had been inundated by young girls confiding in her about their problems.
She has shared photos of herself growing up in Holland, about the same age as the girls she will be talking to. She said as a teenager who felt like an outsider she wished someone had told her that it was not unusual to feel different.
Former Bachelorette contestant Fluer Verhoeven as a teenager. Photo / supplied
Thanks to the show she now had an incredible platform to speak about self-respect, self-acceptance and not judging others.
"We all have a story and we all have our unique personality traits. It would be so amazing for young people to realise this."
Fleur Verhoeven says as a teenager she wished someone had told her it was not unusual to feel different.
The 26-year-old was also concerned at the increasing levels of cyberbullying and was keen to issue a message to youngsters to not be part of the destructive online culture.
"We should be more accepting and respectful of each other. And we shouldn't be saying something to another person if we wouldn't want to hear it ourselves. I've got a responsibility to do something about it because it's a huge issue these days."
Following her shock dumping, Mr Mauger weathered days of online vitriol, including death threats and threats of harm against his family.
