What should have been Georgia Love's most exciting week will now be one of her hardest.

This season of The Bachelorette has been replete with all our favourite elements of reality television: humiliating challenges, unexpected heartbreaks (R.I.P. Cam), a nonsensical rivalry between two peripheral personalities, and a woman who, quite frankly, is way too good for this shit.

But among all the lowbrow, manufactured drama inherent to The Bachelorette, Georgia Love has been fighting a private battle. A real one, away from the cameras and the light-hearted interviews.

The 28-year-old news presenter shared early on in the season that her mother, Belinda, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and cited her mum’s health issues as one of the reasons for leaving her job in journalism to search for love.

“I’m doing this because I realise that family and love is what is important at the end of the day,” she said to her mother during the first episode.

"Seeing how Dad has been with you has made me realise how important family is."

But just days ahead of The Bachelorette finale, Georgia Love's mother has been admitted to palliative care. Network 10 told The Daily Telegraph, "Georgia and her family are going through a very difficult time dealing with serious family health issues."

"They are focusing on supporting each other during this hard time and we kindly ask you to respect their privacy."

I simply can't imagine what she's going through right now.

It was meant to be an exciting week, where the winner is announced and Georgia's finally able to stop hiding her (hopefully) brand new relationship with Australia. Instead, she's dealing with one of the most difficult experiences a person can endure.

It's particularly disconcerting to know that while she's been doing press interviews, talking about Rhys and Sam and rose ceremonies and princess costumes, she's been silently suffering with the knowledge that her mum's condition was deteriorating.

The moment any loved one enters palliative care is a hugely emotional time, but for Georgia, it's happening while she's the centre of public attention, and is meant to be celebrating the journey of finding the love of her life.

Also upsetting is the fact that in the months between when filming ended and when the finale airs on Thursday night, Georgia hasn't been able to seek support from a person whom she (presumably) loves. Whether it was Jake, Lee, or Matty J she chose all those months ago, she would have had to limit contact, despite her painful situation, in case the media were to find out the outcome of the show. Visiting her mother with her partner to support her would be out of the question.

This week, she'll need to be on high alert. The previous winner of The Bachelorette was infamously leaked by The Daily Mail, after a photo was taken of Sasha and Sam in a hotel room together hours before the finale went to air.

Dealing with media speculation and invasive paparazzi shouldn't be the role of a person coming to terms with her mother's devastating illness - regardless of whether they're on the reality show of the moment.

Georgia, we're all thinking of you and your family. You're in an unimaginably difficult situation, and we wholly respect and admire whichever decisions you make when it comes to the final week of The Bachelorette.

The thing about reality television is that while you can produce what goes on within the confines of a mansion or an island or a kitchen, real life doesn't stop. And real life is far more important than what's happening on our screens.