Catching Up With All 19 ‘Bachelorette’ Runners-Ups: Where Are They Now?
Jenn Tran‘s season of The Bachelorette is coming to an end. Who will she choose? Devin Strader, the freight company owner from Houston, or Army Ranger veteran Marcus Shoberg? Barring a shocking twist, one of them will win Jenn’s heart, and the other will become the runner-up of the season.
Through a Bachelorette’s search for love, she meets many men. The lead (and viewers at home) become attached to the suitors who are (mostly) there for the right reasons. At the end of almost every season, a runner-up gets their heart broken. Even though they don’t win the Bachelorette’s heart, Bachelor Nation fans come to love the runner-ups and root for them after the season ends.
In honor of the Season 21 finale, it’s time to take a look back at what The Bachelorette runner-ups have been up to and find out where they are today. Many have gone on to become the Bachelor! From Season 1’s Charlie Maher to Season 20’s Joey Graziadei, get the latest updates on all the second-place contestants.
The Bachelorette, Season 21 Finale, September 3, 8/7c, ABC
Charlie Maher (Season 1)
The inaugural season of The Bachelorette was a major success for lead Trista Sutter (née Rehn). She is still married to that year’s winner Ryan Sutter. They’ve also welcomed two kids!
After getting his heart broken on TV, the stoic Charlie didn’t immediately go back to his financial analyst career, but instead had a short lived TV correspondent stint for Extra between the end of 2003 and January 2005.
Nowadays, he’s the vice president of the west region for Stryker, a medical device company. Together with his wife and daughter, he lives in Phoenix, Arizona.
Matthew Hickl (Season 2)
Not much is known about Matthew after his stint on The Bachelorette.
He has a wife and two kids. Having been a pharmaceutical rep since he was on Season 2 of the show, Matthew still seems to be in that field. According to his LinkedIn, he’s an Executive Immunology Specialist at Janssen Biotech in Houston.
John Paul Merritt (Season 3)
Jen Schefft is the only Bachelorette to date who didn’t get engaged at the end of her season, but she did choose Jerry Ferris over John Paul.
John Paul has stayed out of the spotlight, yet has been written about quite often. As a successful business owner, he is the founder of Pony Oil and co-founder of hemp company Delta Agriculture.
John Paul is married to Kristi Merritt, and they have four children together.
Jason Mesnick (Season 4)
Jason might have been DeAnna Pappas’ runner-up, but he was able to start his own adventure when he became the lead for Season 13 of The Bachelor.
Although DeAnna’s love story with her winner Jesse Csincsak ended, Jason found his current wife during his time on The Bachelor. It was not the Season 13’s winner that he’s now married to, but his runner up Molly Malaney (now Mesnick).
Jason, who is a principal broker in Kirkland, Washington, has a daughter with Molly and a son with his first wife Hilary Buckholz.
Kiptyn Locke (Season 5)
Kiptyn has found his Bachelor Nation love. No, not on any show, but girlfriend Angela Amezcua was also intertwined in the franchise as a contestant on Season 21 of The Bachelor and Season 5 and 6 of Bachelor in Paradise.
He starred in the short-lived series Bachelor Pad. Currently living in Encinitas, California, Kiptyn is the president of LabArchives LLC and has one kid with previous partner Samm Murphy.
Chris Lambton (Season 6)
After appearing in Season 6 of The Bachelorette, Chris made quite a name for himself. He’s been a judge on Discovery Plus’s Clipped, host of DIY Networks Lawn and Order, Yard Crashers, and has appeared with wife Peyton Lambton on HGTV’s Going Yard where they transform backyards.
Chris lives in his hometown of Cape Cod and also runs his family’s landscape business, E. Lambton Landscaping, alongside his brother Erik Lambton.
The Bachelorette alum and his wife have two kids together.
Ben Flajnik (Season 7)
The California winemaker finally got married in 2023, a decade after his first attempt at love on TV. Ben, who lives in Sonoma, was the runner-up during Ashley Hebert‘s season, before becoming the Bachelor himself.
Sadly, The Bachelor experience did not bring him his eternal love, but he has said to have found it now. He married his wife in 2023.
Arie Luyendyk Jr. (Season 8)
Arie, who was an auto racing driver before he entered the Bachelor Nation universe, was always destined to stay successful.
After his time on The Bachelorette, he became the lead of The Bachelor Season 22. After a shocking breakup with Becca Kufrin, he subsequently married his runner-up Lauren Burnham. The happy twosome have three kids together.
Arie participated in the first season of the The Traitors and placed fourth.
Drew Kenney (Season 9)
Drew, who still looks like the perfect Hallmark leading man, is still acting and modeling. The 39-year-old, who was the runner-up on Desiree Hartsock‘s season, married Mckena Honnoll in 2023. They have one child together.
Nick Viall (Seasons 10 and 11)
Nick is probably one of the most well-known stars to come out of The Bachelor franchise because of his widely popular podcast The Viall Files. Not only was he on The Bachelorette twice, he was also the runner-up both times. Nick then appeared on Bachelor in Paradise and eventually became the Bachelor for Season 21.
After The Bachelorette, he was a contestant on Dancing With The Stars and appeared on Patti Stanger: The Matchmaker.
Nick made his acting debut in the movie A Christmas Cruise and has made guest appearances in shows like General Hospital since his time on the ABC reality shows.
Sorry, ladies, Nick is no longer single. He is married to model Natalie Joy, and they welcomed their daughter in February 2024.
Robby Hayes (Season 12)
The Florida native still lives in his home state and loves to be by the water. The former swimmer, who competed in the 2012 Olympic Trials, has since founded a social media agency called Rebella. He is also a real estate agent. The traveling aficionado still appears to be single.
Peter Kraus (Season 13)
Fan favorite Peter has been up to a lot in his years since The Bachelorette Season 13. His company, Peter Kraus Fitness, is doing extremely well. The personal trainer was even invited to the White House in 2022 for the Hunger, Health, and Nutrition Initiative.
The Wisconsin native appears to be single, and Bachelor Nation is already shipping him with Rachel Lindsay again now that she and Bryan Abasolo have split.
Blake Horstmann (Season 14)
Blake didn’t find the love of his life on The Bachelorette with Becca Kufrin, or even on Bachelor in Paradise, but rather another reality TV show. Blake and fiancée Giannina Gibelli met on All Star Shore. Giannina is known for her appearance on the first season of Love Is Blind and her tumultuous relationship with Damian Powers.
Blake is still reeling in his social media fame and works primarily as DJ, influencer, and party host. The Bachelor Nation alum and Giannina welcomed their first child, a song, in April 2024.
Tyler Cameron (Season 15)
Tyler is not just Bachelor Nation’s poster hunk, he seems to be like an all-around good dude.
From modeling to starring in his own home renovation show, Going Home with Tyler Cameron on Prime Video, the 31-year-old can do it all. The show focuses on Tyler returning to his hometown of Jupiter, Florida, and renovating his late mom’s house and other homes.
He’s famously stayed friends with his season’s lead Hannah Brown, who notably chose Jed Wyatt over him.
Although many wanted him to be the next Bachelor, he refused and fellow contestant Peter Weber became the lead instead. However, he told TV Insider he would “never rule out” becoming the Bachelor.
Since his time on The Bachelorette, Tyler dated supermodel Gigi Hadid. As of 2024, Tyler is off the market, but he’s keeping his romantic life private.
Ben Smith (Season 16)
The former Army Ranger from Indiana still has a love for making wellness accessible for everyone. Therefore, it comes to no surprise that Ben is still a personal trainer.
The 34-year-old “gentle-giant” and lead Tayshia Adams unfortunately didn’t work out, and it seems like he is still single right now.
Justin Glaze (Season 17)
Justin did not find his match in Katie Thurston, but went on Bachelor in Paradise and later found partner Susie Evans.
Sadly, those two also didn’t last. They announced their break up in August 2024.
Justin’s Instagram bio calls him an artist and espresso martini connoisseur. He’s also still in business development at the company Ramp.
Brandon Jones (Season 18)
Michelle Young‘s controversial runner-up Brandon has been up to no good since his days on The Bachelorette. Brandon, who got together with Serene Russell during their time in Bachelor in Paradise, already managed to mess that relationship up.
The two exes eventually split because of cheating allegations made against Brandon. He still completely denies the claims.
Whether he is still a recruiter is unclear, but it is for certain that his budding social media career is taking off.
Aven Jones (Season 19)
Aven was a sales representative when he began Gabby Windey‘s and Rachel Recchia‘s season but has since taken the plunge to become a model and influencer.
Originally from Salem, Massachusetts, Aven currently still lives in San Diego.
His social media profiles don’t have any photos with a partner in it, so he’s presumably still single. Aven did date Kylee Russell for a bit, but they are no longer together.
Joey Graziadei (Season 20)
Fan favorite Joey was and still is the perfect man. Emotionally available, a good listener, and a total loverboy. The Season 20 runner-up quickly became the next Bachelor, and he sure did the franchise justice.
After getting engaged to Kelsey Anderson in the The Bachelor Season 29 finale, the couple’s bond has only gotten stronger.
Joey and Kelsey currently live together in New Orleans. The two are planning to move to New York together. The couple told TV Insider that a wedding is on the horizon, but they’re not planning just yet “with all of this craziness happening. We don’t want to get stressed out about planning a wedding, so we’re just taking a second.”
From TV Guide Magazine
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