The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have always tried to portray themselves as squeaky clean versions of the search for a soul mate, but longtime viewers know that behind the scenes, things are a little more complicated. In recent years, for example, some contestants' offensive interactions on social media haven't come to light until their seasons are already airing, raising some questions about the franchise's screening process. Now, Bachelorette contestant Garrett Yrigoyen has a new Instagram, and it’s another example of the franchise brushing off serious issues. A few days before Becca’s season of The Bachelorette premiered, it was revealed that contestant (and frontrunner) Garrett had allegedly liked a series of homophobic, transphobic, and racist Instagram posts while using his now-deleted personal Instagram account, @garrett_yrigs12. (This was the Instagram account that blogger Reality Steve named as Garrett’s when he announced who the contestants on Becca’s seasons were.) These posts were, frankly, gross, and though Garrett didn’t post them himself, his apparent double-taps seem like an endorsement of the content produced on the accounts. Former Bachelor contestant Ashley Spivey was the one who brought these likes to light, and she called out the Bachelor producers on Twitter by suggesting they should do a little more than cast a furtive glance at social media when checking the backgrounds of the contestants they’re putting on the show. In light of all of the fire around Garrett’s old Instagram account, he deleted it, and Reality Steve debunked most of the accounts created in Garrett’s name shortly after as trolls or people trying to have a good time with his name. What is real, though, is the new Instagram account @gy_yrigoyen. On May 31, from that account, Garrett issued a statement in which he apologized for his social media activity. He said that he takes “full responsibility for my ‘likes’ on Instagram that were hurtful and offensive.” He also said that “garrett_yrigs12 was my former Instagram handle and I decided to take it down and start fresh because I have learned an extremely valuable lesson and am taking steps to grow, become more educated, and be a better version of myself.” He wrapped up the statement by claiming that he didn’t want his social media to “define who [he is]” and that he, once again, apologizes for “hurt, damage, or offense I may have caused.” As for what Becca thinks of all of this, she told E! : "I've heard a little bit about it these past couple days. I've just been so busy traveling around the country with press that I haven't really been able to read too much up on it, but everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and at the end of the day I wanted to go on this journey to open up myself and have people see my love story unfold and I would hope that they would stay open and respect me but also stay open and respect these 28 guys that went along on the journey with me." That’s a big nothing, huh? It seems like Becca wants to stay neutral on the guy who emerged as the early frontrunner of her season. (He got the first impression rose.) Garrett is entitled to open as many social media accounts as he wants, but should he have opened another Instagram account given all the attention and controversy surrounding his old one? Garrett’s stated desire to create a clean slate for himself online doesn’t negate the fact that it was his original account that allegedly liked all of those offensive posts. Bekah, a contestant on Arie’s season of The Bachelor, put it best when she said that everything a person does on social media is indicative of their true selves. Social media is now part of the fabric of our culture. A person can say or like anything they want on their accounts, but that person has to be ready to take responsibility for their words and endorsements, especially those made on public accounts. Garrett could be ignorant of how social media works, but he still showed his support for posts that advocated offensive ideas when he double-tapped them. Then he presumed making another account would make it all better. Starting over — nothing to see here, guys — doesn't erase what already happened, and posting an apology before filling an account with sporty pictures doesn't do much to prove he's making a real effort at change. The truth of the matter is that Garrett shouldn’t have created another Instagram account until learning how to wield one responsibly — until he realizes how messed up the posts that he endorsed really are and does something to counteract the hurt he caused. These days, a Bachelor/Bachelorette contestant can’t exist without an Instagram because of the need for sponsored posts, but if I may, Garrett should have sat this one out and read a book (without posting a picture of it). A little bit of history may do Garrett good.<doc-sep>Despite a recent Instagram controversy, it's seeming more and more like Garrett Yrigoyen is Becca Kufrin's front runner on The Bachelorette. During the most recent episode, however, their blossoming relationship hit a minor speed bump. The 29-year-old medical sales representative, who received Becca's first-impression rose (and first kiss!) during the season 14 premiere, got a chance to hang out with Becca during an epic one-on-one date in the snow-covered mountains of Utah in the reality show's fourth episode. After bobsledding with Olympians and popping Champagne in the snow, it was clear sparks were flying between the pair. By the time they ditched their puffer jackets for an intimate fireside conversation, though, it was time for Garrett to open up about a past relationship. Spoiler alert: Garrett has been married once before. According to Garrett, he ended up falling for a girlfriend who shared his sense of adventure, but things soured after they tied the knot. She became emotionally abusive, Garrett explained to Becca, adding that his ex-wife drove a wedge between him and his family and friends, and that she'd "build [him] up" just to tear him down. The former couple decided to get divorced just six months after getting hitched, but Garrett said they were truly married only for "two months." After Garrett's seriously disturbing habit of "liking" racist and misogynistic Instagram memes was uncovered, the good people of Reddit did some digging and discovered his wedding registry on The Knot was still up for his marriage to a woman named Kayla Cunningham. Apparently they made things official in Newcastle, CA, on Sept. 19, 2015, but finalized their divorce on March 25, 2016, after citing they were incompatible in marriage. Becca, a mature queen, expressed trepidation at his confession but also commended him for his honesty. (After going through hell with Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s lies on The Bachelor last season, we can see why!) In a season mired with controversy after controversy, it looks like Garrett is not only safe but also on his way to stealing Becca's heart.<doc-sep>Few contestants have had such a busy post-filming experience as Bachelorette frontrunner Garrett. Shortly after the show premiered, he got caught up in a social media scandal when it was discovered that he'd reportedly "liked" several offensive posts with anti-feminist, transphobic, and school shooting conspiracy ideals. Garrett later apologized on a new Instagram account with a lengthy post. But what else has Garrett been doing since The Bachelorette wrapped filming? According to Becca's Instagram of her returning home, the show concluded filming around May 16. The show then began airing on May 28, and it's been a whirlwind for Garrett since then. Many fans dislike him based on the comments about him online and his Instagram history, but Becca's on a "let's be open minded" tour with regards to Garrett. She told Entertainment Tonight, "I want viewers to be open to everyone, and I want them to go through this season with me, and watch my love story unfold with all of these men, because that's how I went into this journey." She added, "People say and do certain things. I've done things in the past that I'm sure it wasn't the best thing." With Becca as basically his PR person, it seems Garrett's been able to go back to normal life. Mostly. Here's what he's been up to: Apologizing For Those Instagram Likes His second post on his new Instagram is all about the scandal. It's four photos long and reads in part: “To those who I have hurt and offended: This is all new to me. I went on the Bachelorette for the adventure and possibility of falling in love, not fame ... I also take full responsibility for my ‘likes’ on Instagram that were hurtful and offensive ... I have learned an extremely valuable lesson and am taking steps to grow, become more educated, and be a better version of myself ... My Instagram ‘likes’ were not a true reflection of me and my morals ... Let my mistakes be a lesson for those who mindlessly double tap images, memes. and videos on any social media content that could be many things including hurtful, degrading, and dehumanizing. I do not want my social media to define who I am, and I will take better care moving forward to support all walks of life. Again, I sincerely apologize and am sorry for any hurt, damage, or offense I may have caused.” Fishing Garrett taught Becca how to fly fish in the premiere, and it appears to be a serious hobby of his based on IG. Skateboarding He's been hanging out in San Diego a lot, based on the tag on this photo (and some others). Garrett's ABC bio says he currently lives in Reno, Nevada, but that he grew up in central California — so he clearly likes to hop back now and again. Hanging Out With Friends Guess they're all chill with his Instagram likes. Promoting The Show This is pretty standard for contestants. Alongside three stills from the show, he wrote: "Watch me try and ball with a bunch of savages tonight. #bachelorette #abc." Golfing He's definitely an outdoorsy guy, which Becca seems to relate to. Honoring His Dad Is it really Father's Day if you don't post about it on Instagram? Garrett's caption for his dad reads, "Happy Fathers Day to my extremely hard working and hilarious Dad!" Clearly he caught the fishing bug from his father. Not Laying Low Even At All Having a bunch of people scrutinize his Instagram behavior has not deterred Garrett. After his initial account was found to have liked all those offensive posts, he simply closed it and opened a new one. Sure, he apologized, but he also jumped right back onto social media without really skipping a beat. It's an interesting choice. He even posts Instagram stories pretty regularly. They're usually along the lines of what he's posting on his page — hanging with friends, fishing, being active outside. He may not want his social media to define him, but it's definitely a good place to go if you want to keep up with Garrett after the show. Let's see if this account lasts.<doc-sep>Photo: Paul Hebert/ABC Many a Bachelor or Bachelorette season has been spoiled before the final rose. If you read the blogs that really dig into reporting, every season get spoiled. But generally, those spoilers linger on a subsurface level. They’re accessible enough — if you really want to know, the winner’s name is usually only a casual Google away — but strong hints about who the Bachelorette will ultimately pick don’t tend to make news outside of niche reality-TV websites. Especially not within the first weeks of a new season. This season of Bachelorette is different. Spoiler of the spoilers: It’s because of grossness and social media! To better explain why this particular Bachelor-related spoiler cycle feels unusual, here’s a rundown of the most recent events in the ever-churning world of Bachelor discourse. First, a contestant liked odious Instagram memes This is a good reminder for everyone, really, but it’s an especially important (and sadly belated) reminder for Bachelorette contestant Garrett Yrigoyen: Other people can see what you like on Instagram. As reported by the HuffPost, screenshots of Garrett’s Instagram activity began to circulate on an anonymous account last week, and then blew up after former Bachelor contestant Ashley Spivey posted the screenshots on her Twitter account. The screenshots show Garrett liking anti-immigration memes, fat-shaming memes, transphobic memes, and images suggesting that Parkland student David Hogg is a “crisis actor.” These posts are from a conservative Instagram account called MericaSupplyCo — and now we all know that Garrett hit the heart icon on many of them. The Bachelorette has a history of contestants with troubling social-media activity This has happened before! On Rachel Lindsay’s Bachelorette season, contestant Lee Garrett’s racist tweets surfaced while the season was airing. It was disturbing and infuriating that someone with that history was given a platform on national TV, but it was especially troubling that it happened during Lindsay’s season as the first black lead of the franchise. It was not surprising, however: The Bachelorette was already promoting Garrett as someone likely to get into fights with black cast members and deploy racist stereotypes. (ABC, maybe cool it with jerks named Garrett.) This time, it’s a bigger problem for the franchise Garrett Yrigoyen’s social-media activity is just as disgusting as Lee Garrett’s, and it’s infuriating that once again, ABC either did not know or (more likely) did not care about it before casting Yrigoyen on the show. But this time, The Bachelorette has another problem: Yrigoyen gets a much more prominent, positive edit. Lee Garrett was obviously cast as a dramatic early-season burnout villain, someone that producers knew would create a lot of conflict and then get kicked off in a big dramatic scene. They cast Lee Garrett to be good TV. (Another tip: Don’t cast racists because you hope they’ll be good TV!) But Yrigoyen is not a dummy meant to go home quickly; he’s not a Bachelorette redshirt. Becca gave him the first impression rose in the season premiere, an episode that reminded the Bachelorette audience that first impression roses often go to the final winners. Even if you only watch the show and ignore any other promos or spoilers, it’s obvious that Garrett is meant to go the distance. Last season, the implication was that it’s somehow okay for The Bachelorette to cast a racist man, kick him off, hold a disingenuous healing session during a reunion episode, and then pretend that the franchise has fixed its problem of giving a national platform to racist people with damaging beliefs. Will the show deem it less okay if someone who thinks David Hogg is a “crisis actor” actually wins the whole thing? It’ll surely put a damper on the whole romance angle if you find out your fiancé liked what’s meant to be an unflattering image of an overweight “leftist woman” with a shirt that says “I’m a fukin feminist” — especially if, like Bachelorette Becca, you were a Hillary supporter. We *know* it’s a bigger problem because ABC has treated it that way After the reports of Yrigoyen’s Instagram activity blew up, there was a swift response from Yrigoyen himself, who confirmed that the account was his and posted a multi-image apology. He said that he never realized “the power of a mindless double tap,” and insisted that the “likes” were “not a true reflection of me and my morals.” And then came the response from Becca, who gave a lengthy interview about how she wants the audience to be “open” to every contestant, and how she feels that filming the Bachelorette without the buzz of social media helped her get to know the men “without any added fodder or any distraction.” So, here’s the big spoiler: According to several reality-TV sites, including Reality Blurred and Reality Steve (as well as TMZ photos), Garrett will win this season. His social-media activity is a problem because he’s the new Bachelorette royalty, and ABC would really prefer if the audience thinks of him as Becca’s one true love rather than a racist, transphobic, misogynistic conspiracy theorist. But unlike in the past, you didn’t need to trawl TMZ or Reality Steve to suspect that Garrett is going to win. The response to the controversy is its own spoiler, and Becca’s interview in particular is a giant giveaway. Her repeated insistence that the audience try to keep an open mind toward not just Garrett but all of the contestants feels the most damning: It’s painfully obvious that she’s following a careful Bachelorette damage-control sheet. She swears she fell in love with two men and people really need to follow her “journey” to understand how it all goes down. She promises she got to know the real Garrett, but then redirects to everyone else. She even asserts the authenticity of the infamous “unedited” breakup scene with Arie, even after Arie admitted it was significantly altered. She’s following a Bachelorette protocol list like it’s stapled to her eyelids! None of that would be necessary if she weren’t in lockstep with a wider effort to protect the season’s winner.<doc-sep>
Garrett Yrigoyen opened up about his failed marriage during Monday's episode of The Bachelorette, but new reports suggest he may have spun the story a bit. According to OKHereIsTheSituation, Garrett was married to a woman called Kayla Cunningham in September 2015 and divorced her after six months together. While he claimed on the show that Kayla, who married the Bachelorette front runner in Newcastle, California, was emotionally abusive toward him, a friend of Kayla's claims that's not quite true. Kayla's anonymous pal told Life & Style Garrett changed after getting married. He reportedly became cold and was disrespectful toward his wife and her loved ones. Garrett Yrigoyen opened up to Becca Kufrin about his failed marriage during season 14, episode four of The Bachelorette According to Life & Style's source, Garrett packed up his things one day and took off. 'A week later, he said he wanted half of everything,' the insider claimed. Kayla's friend said her family 'felt like she had been scammed. Why did he marry her and have her family spend thousands of dollars on the wedding, and then all of a sudden say, "I just can't do this anymore?"' Another source corroborated the previous one's claims that Garrett may not be the man he appears to be on The Bachelorette, telling Hollywood Life: 'I want Becca to know the truth about Garrett. He's a nice guy at first, but she needs to watch out.' A woman who claimed to be a longtime friend of Garrett's also weighed in on their relationship, tweeting a message about his marriage to Reality Steve. 'Hey @RealitySteve - I've been Garrett Yrigoyen's friend for 8 years and I don't even know why he and his wife split. Lol,' the message read. The same alleged friend previously defended Garrett amid controversy over troubling Instagram posts he 'liked' which accused Parkland shooting survivors of being crisis actors, among other things. She maintained that Garrett's 'one of the best guys' she knows, calling him 'solid, down to earth, friendly to everyone'. Here's what we know so far about Garrett's failed marriage and more. Kayla Cunningham Garrett Yrigoyen wedding Kayla Cunningham and Garrett Yrigoyen married on September 19, 2015 in Newcastle, California. A registry for the pair was created on The Knot, but has been taken down according to Reddit. Hey @RealitySteve - I've been Garrett Yrigoyen's friend for 8 years and I don't even know why he and his wife split. Lol. — Libby Lopez (@Lbeeloo) April 26, 2018 Garrett Bachelorette divorce Garrett Yrigoyen filed for divorce about six months after her married Kayla Cunningham. The pair both stated in divorce documents that they were incompatible in marriage and that there was no chance of reconciliation. The divorce was finalized on March 25, 2016. Garrett claimed on The Bachelorette that his ex-wife was emotionally abusive and drove a wedge between him and his family and friends. Sources have since said that it was Garrett who was disrespectful to Kayla. He reportedly packed up one day and demanded half of everything. Garrett Yrigoyen Instagram likes Garrett Yrigoyen's divorce drama isn't the first time he's made headlines since joining The Bachelorette cast. According to HuffPost, the California native 'liked' Instagram posts mocking trans people, undocumented immigrants, liberal women and accusing Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg of being a crisis actor. He has since deleted the Instagram account from which he liked the posts and started fresh. Garrett issued an apology on social media after his views were made public. 'To those who I have hurt and offended: This is all new to me. I went on the Bachelorette for the adventure and possibility of falling in love, not fame,' he wrote. 'I did not know what to expect once the show aired. I am sorry to those who I offended and I also take full responsibility for my "likes" on Instagram that were hurtful and offensive. garrett_yrigs12 was my former Instagram handle and I decided to take it down and start fresh because I have learned an extremely valuable lesson and am taking steps to grow, become more educated, and be a better version of myself,' he wrote. Garrett continued: 'I am not the negative labels people are associating me with. For those who do know me, I am a sincere, genuine, loving, light-hearted, open-minded and non-judgmental individual. I like to make new friends with anyone I meet and want everyone to find their happiness.