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. “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 arr.