Daisy Kathryn Rae Kent (born September 8, 1998) is an American television personality, children’s book author, and

hearing loss Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spo ...

activist who rose to national prominence as a contestant on season 28 of '' The Bachelor''.

Early life and education

Kent was born and raised in

Becker, Minnesota Becker is a city in Sherburne County, Minnesota, Sherburne County, Minnesota, between the Mississippi River, Mississippi and Elk River (Minnesota), Elk Rivers. The population was 4,877 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Becker is ...

, to parents Brandon and Julie. She is the middle of five children, and graduated from Becker High School in 2017. Throughout her childhood, Kent began to suffer from an array of medical issues, including hearing loss, seizures, fatigue, and migraines. In sixth grade, she was diagnosed with

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

– however, this was later confirmed to be a misdiagnosis, and she instead was diagnosed with

Ménière's disease Ménière's disease (MD) is a disease of the inner ear that is characterized by potentially severe and incapacitating episodes of vertigo, tinnitus, hearing loss, and a feeling of fullness in the ear. Typically, only one ear is affected in ...

. While studying at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

, she was diagnosed with

Lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a tick-borne disease caused by species of ''Borrelia'' bacteria, Disease vector, transmitted by blood-feeding ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. It is the most common disease spread by ticks in th ...

as a result of a

tick Ticks are parasitic arachnids of the order Ixodida. They are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, and species, but can become larger when engorged. Ticks a ...

bite from when she was younger. She graduated from San Diego State in 2021 with a degree in communications and digital media.

Career

Prior to appearing on ''The Bachelor'', Kent was working as an account executive at a software company in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. In August 2023, she published her first children’s book, ''Daisy Doo: All The Sounds She Knew'', about a young girl learning to hear again after receiving a cochlear implant.

Reality television

''The Bachelor''

In September 2023, Kent was revealed to be a contestant on season 28 of '' The Bachelor'' starring

Joey Graziadei Joseph Michael Graziadei (born May 24, 1995) is an American television personality who is best known as the runner-up on season 20 of ''The Bachelorette'', and as the star of season 28 of '' The Bachelor''. He is the winner of season 33 of ''D ...

. She made it to the final two, but eliminated herself after “she knew Kelsey was the one.” She was offered the position of ''

The Bachelorette A bachelorette is an unmarried woman. Bachelorette may also refer to: Film, television, and related * ''The Bachelorette'', a reality television dating show part of ''The Bachelor'' franchise with numerous versions: ** ''The Bachelorette'' (Am ...

'', but turned it down to focus on her health. The role instead went to her castmate

Jenn Tran Jennifer Tran (born November 24, 1997) is an American television personality who appeared on season 28 of '' The Bachelor'', and starred in season 21 of ''The Bachelorette''. She is the first Asian-American in the lead role in the history of t ...

from season 28.

Personal life

In March 2023, Kent made the decision to have

cochlear implant A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted Neuroprosthetics, neuroprosthesis that provides a person who has moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss with sound perception. With the help of therapy, cochlear implants may allow for imp ...

surgery at

UC San Diego Health UC San Diego Health is the academic health system of the University of California, San Diego in San Diego, California. It is the only academic health system serving San Diego and has one of three adult Level I trauma centers in the region. In o ...

, and began to document her journey on the social media website

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

. As a result of this, she began to grow a large following, with over 12 million views on the video of her cochlear implant activation. She then used her platform to launch a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

, ''Hear Your Heart'', which helps patients pay for cochlear implant surgery.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Daisy 1998 births People from Becker, Minnesota American television personalities Bachelor Nation contestants San Diego State University alumni Living people