In what appears to be the beginning of a pattern for The Bachelorette, one of the contestants this season has found himself in hot water for his social media presence.
Garrett Yrigoyen, a medical sales rep from Reno, Nevada, is one of the 28 men vying for Bachelorette Becca Kufrin’s heart this season. He secured the coveted first impression rose, as well as a kiss from Becca on the season premiere of the show, meaning he is a “frontrunner” as of this writing. But all that might be about to change.
Former Bachelor contestant Ashley Spivey apparently did some sleuthing after following the contestants on social media, and was surprised to find that Yrigoyen has “liked” a variety of posts mocking trans people, Colin Kaepernick, and undocumented immigrants. In another of his liked posts, Parkland shooting survivor and gun reform activist David Hogg is referred to as a “crisis actor.”
Spivey took screenshots of Yrigoyen’s likes and shared them in a thread Tuesday evening:
https://twitter.com/AshleySpivey/status/999753758467936256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fjezebel.com%2Fajax%2Finset%2Fiframe%3Fid%3Dtwitter-999753758467936256%26autosize%3D1
https://twitter.com/AshleySpivey/status/999755544155119616
https://twitter.com/AshleySpivey/status/999755535460298752
https://twitter.com/AshleySpivey/status/999755567274037250
https://twitter.com/AshleySpivey/status/999755557249699845
Yrigoyen has apparently set his Instagram to private since the fallout, but it will be interesting to see if the controversy makes its way to the Bachelorette.
All of this comes after a similar debacle last season, when a contestant named Lee found himself in the hot seat after his Twitter timeline revealed some racist posts he’d made over the years. Lee was forced to reckon with his tweets during the season’s reunion special.
You’d think ABC would be screening for exactly this kind of thing during the casting process, which gives these controversies a certain manufactured feel. We’ve all seen UnReal, guys.