'The Bachelorette' Contestants' Biggest Off-Screen Controversies

These men attracted attention for the wrong reasons

01 of 05

Jed Wyatt

haley stevens and jedd wyatt
Jed Wyatt and Haley Stevens. Courtesy Haley Stevens

Wyatt was allegedly four months into a relationship with fellow Nashville-based musician Haley Stevens when he left to join the cast of The Bachelorette, vying for the heart of Hannah Brown.

“We spent the night together the night before he headed to L.A.,” Stevens told PEOPLE exclusively in June 2019, opening up publicly for the first time about their romance. “He told me [the show] was just an obstacle and we’d be stronger on the other side because of it.”

In fact, Stevens said Wyatt was unequivocal about his motives for going on the reality series, for which he applied before they started dating.

“He told me [early on] that he had applied,” said Stevens, 26. “He said, ‘It’s probably not going to happen, but it’s a huge opportunity. I’m only doing this for my music.’ He only did it for his career.”

02 of 05

Lincoln Adim

LINCOLN
Craig Sjodin/ABC

The L.A.-based account sales executive was convicted of indecent assault and battery just days before Becca Kufrin's season premiered. The charges stem from a May 2016 incident in which he groped and assaulted a woman on a cruise ship, and he was sentenced to one year in a house of correction, with that term suspended for a two-year probationary period. Oh, and he believes Earth is flat.

03 of 05

Chris Soules

ABC's "The Bachelor" - Season 19
Nicole Kohl/ABC via Getty

Season 19's Bachelor leading man was charged with fleeing from a deadly car accident after being arrested in April 2017 in connection with a crash that killed 66-year-old Vietnam veteran Kenneth E. Mosher. He later called 911, identified himself and attempted to administer aid to victim and was not charged with driving under the influence, though court documents reveal Soules was in possession of alcoholic beverages/containers. Although Soules entered a not guilty plea in May 2016, leaving the scene of a fatal car crash is a class D felony in Iowa. If convicted, Soules could face as many as five years in prison.

04 of 05

Garrett Yrigoyen

GARRETT
Craig Sjodin/ABC

Another of Kufrin's contestants, the medical sales representative from Reno, Nevada, came under fire on after liking offensive posts on Instagram that mock the trans community, a Parkland high school shooting survivor, undocumented immigrants and more. He deleted that account and apologized, saying, "I am not perfect, and I will never be anywhere close, but now I will always be more informed and aware of what I am liking and supporting, not just on Instagram, but in life."

05 of 05

Lee Garrett

ABC's "The Bachelorette" - Season 13
Michael Yada/ABC/Getty

The Nashville native booted from Rachel Lindsay's season of The Bachelorette resurfaced his old tweets was accused of being a racist off the show as well as on, when fans in which he advised his followers to “Never trust a female liberal” and allegedly described the Black Lives Matter movement as a terrorist group.

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