Bachelor Super-Alum Chris Bukowski: 'It Ruined Me, My Family and My Career' 

I couldn’t believe the hate towards me. The tweets, the Facebook messages, the media, etc. — I couldn’t handle it. I’ll never forget going to my parents’ house and witnessing my dad obsess over all of the stuff being said about me. That show ruined my relationship with my father at the time and created distance between me and my mother.”

Chris, a bar owner, wrote of the pressure he felt to get back in the spotlight to attract customers. “Constantly being told that I was irrelevant played a major role in my unexpected arrival during Andi’s season of ‘The Bachelorette.’” Chris showed up on night 1 of Andi Dorfman’s season and was told it was too late to join the show; he had to be escorted out by security. “If for one second you thought I pulled that whole night off on my own, you’re absolutely insane,” he wrote.

Eventually, he became addicted to his anxiety medication (and to a certain extent, one assumes, alcohol).

As you can see, I’m fighting demons. I’m far from perfect. All I’ve ever wanted is what many would call a “fairytale ending.” I honestly thought that was realistic for me. And I honestly thought those involved in my television career were “looking out for my best interests.”

This letter is a huge dig at the entire Bachelor franchise, which has recently come under scrutiny for the exploitative situations dramatized on Lifetime’s UnREAL, written by a former Bachelor producer.

Even though Chris Bukowski is, as a BIP cast member referred to him, kind of a “toolbag,” this is fairly sobering—while it’s immediately clear to most viewers that some very insidious shit is going on behind the scenes (a reality producer’s job, after all, is to manipulate cast members into making personal choices they wouldn’t otherwise make) it’s rare for members of the “Bachelor family” to actually come out against the show.

Image via screenshot/ABC.