Sydney Speaks Out on ‘Bachelor’ Exit & Accusations She Lied About Being Bullied
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After a whopping two Bachelor episodes this week, leading man Peter Weber has already whittled his group of contestants down to only six remaining women.
In fact, in what was a fairly shocking elimination to most fans, the 28-year-old decided to send Sydney Hightower home on Wednesday’s episode, despite the fact he had earlier anointed her as the “best kisser in the house.”
Sydney took to Instagram following her elimination to reflect on the season and what she learned about herself along the way.
“So incredibly thankful for this crazy journey I have been so honored to be a part of. Never in a million years did i think I would embark on a journey to find love. And even though I did not find love with sweet little Pete, I did find love for myself, and have learned so much in this process,” she wrote.
“I’m walking out of this with my head held high, with a newfound appreciation for my strength, and with the most amazing new family, and group of best friends that I will have for the rest of my life. And to me, that is success beyond measures. I am overwhelmed with love.”
Sydney’s elimination also came a couple of days after she was accused of lying about her bad high school experience. For those who don’t remember, Sydney shared during her one-0n-one that she was bullied for being biracial in high school, adding that she never went to a school dance, and frequently ate lunch in the bathroom because she had no friends.
However, Sydney’s old classmates took to Twitter with copies of their yearbook showing Sydney touted as one of their school’s “Top 5 Beauties.”
While it’s entirely possible Sydney could win beauty pageants and still be bullied, this revelation caused skepticism among fans. And because of that, the Alabama native took to Twitter to clear up the rumors and defend herself.
“Feels ridiculous I even have to address this. But correct I did win a beauty pageant my senior year of high school. That was voted for by 5 judges. Not by my peers. Winning a pageant based off of outer beauty does not take away the racial bullying, and isolation I’ve been through,” she wrote.
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“I was also on the cheer team in middle school and in many clubs in high school. 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.
She continued, “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 hallways? 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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