‘The Bachelor’s Sydney & Hannah B.’s High School Connection Revealed (PHOTOS)
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Sydney Hightower’s one-on-one date with Peter Weber on last night’s episode of The Bachelor was nothing short of magical — filled with a helicopter ride, a romantic dinner, the works. And while no Bachelor date is ever short of an emotional story, the retail marketing manager bravely opened up about her difficult childhood, telling Peter that her high school years were some of the worst of her life due to the excessive bullying she experienced from her peers.
The bullying was so horrific that she actually admitted to eating lunch in bathroom stalls because she didn’t have a single person to call a friend. The 28-year-old was clearly touched by Sydney’s strength and vulnerability, and ultimately offered her a rose. But shortly after the episode wrapped, several posts on social media surfaced that have fans questioning if Sydney’s story was fabricated for the sake of the cameras.
One Twitter user in particular claims to have gone to high school with the 24-year-old, and shared photos from her yearbook which show a smiling Sydney in a high school beauty pageant — seemingly a far cry from the lonely girl eating in a bathroom stall. “Ate lunch in the bathroom everyday of high school,” the post reads. “I’m selling my yearbooks for $200 a pop. Who wants the tea?”
“Ate lunch in the bathroom everyday of highschool” #bachelornation I’m selling my yearbooks for $200 a pop, who wants the tea😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/Kjz9LuMEru
— jc me rollin (@jc_me_rollin_) February 4, 2020
But that’s not the only shocking revelation that stems from this juicy yearbook. The Twitter user also confirmed that Sydney graduated high school with former Bachelorette (and Peter’s ex) Hannah Brown. “Did anyone watching [The Bachelor] outside of Tuscaloosa know that Hannah and Sydney went to the same HS,” she asked. “Bachelor production works hard but I work HARDER!!!!!”
Bachelor production works hard but I work HARDER!!!!! #BachelorNation pic.twitter.com/zr7uTXGRPO
— jc me rollin (@jc_me_rollin_) February 4, 2020
Not only did the girls go to school together, but from the looks of the photo below, it appears they may have been friends.
— jc me rollin (@jc_me_rollin_) February 4, 2020
It didn’t take long for the tweets to go viral and make their way to Sydney herself. She took to her own page to address the accusations head on, claiming that while she did participate in the beauty pageant, that still doesn’t take away from her difficult high school experience. “Winning a pageant based off of outer beauty does not take away the racial bullying and isolation I’ve been through,” she shared.
https://twitter.com/sydhightower/status/1224541237333590016
“I was also on the cheer team in middle school and in many clubs in high school,” she continued in a separate tweet. “You’ll do anything you can to fit in, and I tried. I won pageants because of my ‘looks’ and I was in clubs because I wanted a scholarship to get into college . Not because I was accepted by my peers.”
The 24-year-old went on to confirm that, despite the photos being shared on social media, she was in fact heavily bullied. “Any one from my high school want to pull out the videos of girls stuffing my locker with Oreo cookies, vandalizing my home, shoving me in the hall ways? Teachers literally referring to me as a halfbreed? Calling my mother the worst names I’ve ever heard in my life? I doubt that.”
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