ABC and Warner Bros. find themselves in a bit of hot water with The Bachelorette after news surfaced Monday that Season 21 contestant Devin Strader was arrested for burglarizing an ex-girlfriend’s Louisiana home in 2017. The revelation calls into question the franchise’s vetting process once again.
It comes just two weeks after the season finale, during which audiences learned that Strader was the last man standing, accepting a proposal from Jenn Tran, but he broke up with her shortly after.
In addition to his arrest, documents from the Baton Rouge Police Department state that Strader’s ex had a restraining order at the time.
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“We take the safety of our contestants very seriously and make every effort to conduct thorough diligence. As exhaustive as our vetting process is, this protective order did not surface in our searches,” a source close to production tells Deadline.
The 2017 restraining order was sealed, which explains why it would not have appeared in a background check. But the burglary arrest affidavit is public record, meaning production would have been able to access it.
Sources also told Deadline that Strader’s arrest was flagged and he was questioned about the trespassing charge but gave a different explanation for it.
It’s not clear whether production requested the arrest affidavit from the Baton Rouge police, though it would appear not considering that the document does reference the protective order and give details on the circumstances of the arrest.
This is not the first time that a contestant on the Bachelor franchise has had a criminal past that flew under the radar, despite the fact that ABC and Warner Bros., the producer of the franchise, conduct background checks prior to casting. In 2018, production was confronted with news that Season 14 contestant Lincoln Adim had once been arrested for indecent assault and battery.
The franchise has also been involved in multiple scandals for casting contestants who had engaged in insensitive and sometimes problematic behavior on social media. Since 2020, production has often posted potential contestants on online prior to finalizing the cast, which has allowed audiences to do their own sleuthing on their pasts.