On Monday night's Bachelorette , Dylan Petitt spilled his life story to Andi Dorfman and things got pretty heavy. Usually this show is all about ridiculous group dates and drunken debauchery, but occasionally, it gets a little deeper than all that. It just reminds you that these are real people, not actors like on some other reality shows.
Dylan's tragic backstory is something that's been weighing him down since he started his journey (which might explain his super awkward limo intro). He really, really felt the need to tell Andi about everything and he got a chance during his Monday night one-on-one. It turns out that in addition to having no father in the picture, Dylan recently lost both of his siblings to drug overdoses within a very short timeframe. His brother passed away last November, and considering that this show probably started taping in like March, everything must have still been pretty fresh. His story brought Andi to tears, especially when she learned that their one-on-one in Connecticut housed a lot of Dylan's childhood memories because he grew up in the state.
Like I said, it was a heavy portion of the show. But Dylan is certainly not the first contestant to bring up their sad history on national television. Here are 7 others who opened up about their tragic pasts.
DREW'S DAD WAS AN ALCOHOLIC AND NOW HE HAS CANCER
During Desiree Hartsock's season, Drew Kenney used some of his one-on-one time to tell her about his father who is a recovering alcoholic. Now sober, he and Drew get along, but the kicker comes in that his father is now dying of cancer. Des told Drew she "enjoyed" hearing the story.
BRANDON HAD DADDY ISSUES
During a pool party date also on Desiree's season, Brandon Andreen opened up about the string of boyfriends his mom had. He has abandonment issues because they were nice to him one second and gone the next. Then he told Des he was falling in love with her. Keep in mind this is episode three, so Brandon has spent maybe all of 16 total minutes with her. The L-word freaked Des out a bit and she sent him packing. Brandon saw this as another person who won't love him and exits with the words "Once again someone left me."
BRYDEN WAS IN A CAR ACCIDENT
Desiree had a lot of sob stories on her season, but Bryden backed his up with photographic evidence. Seriously he whipped out photos of his horrific car accident and showed them to Des on their date.
DESIREE WAS HOMELESS
Des, too, had her own sad story. After kissing Sean Lowe in a teepee on one date she confessed she once lived in a tent and didn't have a lot of money growing up. The very wealthy Sean likely had no idea what it would be like to walk in her shoes and told her she's special.
ASHLEE WAS ABUSED
On Sean's season, AshLee opened up about her own past which included her adoption at age 6 after being abused in her foster home. “There are so many children that don’t get adopted past the age of two or three, because everybody wants a baby," AshLee said. "I was adopted at six, and when I was in a foster home, I was abused by a family.”
It was a tough story and it moved Sean Lowe to tears, especially when AshLee talked about the happy ending she got when her new family came along. “I remember them taking me home from the court house, and saying ‘We’re going to tell you we love you every day’ they really have loved me every single day of my life." Still a heavy moment, but lightened a bit by the positive outcome.
EMILY LOST A LOVED ONE
Emily Maynard had a lot of baggage to tell Brad Womack about, and no I'm not talking about her daughter, Ricki. (I would never pull a Kalon and call her child baggage!) Rather, Emily had to open up to Brad about the death of her fiance Ricky Hendrick. A professional race car driver, Hendrick was traveling when his plane crashed early in their romance. Emily had missed the flight due to a freak bout of the flu which saved her life. Later she learned it was no ordinary flu, but that she was actually pregnant. Rough stuff. Because he is an insensitive tool, Brad later took Emily along on a date to a NASCAR track even after learning about her race car driver fiance's death.
CLARE LOST A FATHER
The runner-up on Juan Pablo's season snagged the first date of the season and used the time to tell JP about her deceased father. "It kind of crushed my soul and my spirit," Clare revealed. "I understand," said Juan Pablo, who we'd later learn understood basically nothing at all.
So at least now Dylan can take solace in knowing he's not the only one to get serious on this reality dating show.
