Bachelor Nation's Mugshots Over The Years
Let's be real: Bachelor Nation would be nothing without controversy. We've seen our fair share of scandals on the screen, lest we forget the awful incident that nearly destroyed the entire Bachelor In Paradise spin-off series. In Season 25 of The Bachelor, we watched with our popcorn as one of the contestants was accused of "entertaining men for money" (goodbye and good riddance to rumor-starter Anna). Did the rumors deserve a full investigation from The Sun? Probably not. Are we glad we got it anyway? Absolutely. Even the mystery behind Pilot Pete's band-aid in Season 24 sustained us for a few episodes, but the real juicy stuff is what happens off-screen, the past indiscretions contestants wish they could hide.
Each season of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette presents a whole new group of contestants with a whole new level of dirt to dig up from their past. If one thing is for sure, it's that Bachelor Nation will always find it, from Jed Wyatt's alleged secret girlfriend to Rachael Kirkconnell's alleged allegiance to QAnon. There's also been an inordinate amount of contestants with hidden past arrest records, and at this point, you'd think they'd just come forward with it off the bat. A mugshot always resurfaces once you become Bachelor famous. Nonetheless, we can't say that we hate the chase.
These Bachelor Nation mugshots throughout the years prove that some of The Bachelor's most-hated villains really do have a dark side.
This Bachelor queen shoplifted her way to jail
In Season 25 of The Bachelor, Victoria Larson taught us that a self-appointed queen is still a queen, even if she habitually has her bra strap showing. It seemed like the Bachelor baddie took one look at Victoria Fuller's villainous narrative and told Chis Harrison to hold her beer. Sadly, the controversial queen was sent home after a contestant blamed her for the house's "toxic environment," truly pushing the definition of what toxic actually means.
As it turns out, Larson's so-called toxicity isn't just limited to the screen. Right before she was not offered a rose, the reality star's mugshot surfaced online. According to E!, Larson was cuffed for shoplifting in 2012 after a security camera caught her stealing "groceries and makeup" totaling over $250. No, she didn't go to Whole Foods, where royalty would presumably shop. Instead, her kingdom was Publix. Larson was charged with "petit theft" and spent two days in jail before posting her $1,000 bail. After pleading no contest, she was sentenced to six months of probation.
All in all, Larson feels better now that her secret is public knowledge. "When initially the story broke I called my dad, of course, and he's like, 'How do you feel?' and I'm like, 'I feel liberated,'" she told Good Morning America. "Everything's exposed! I can tell my future husband, 'Google me. I have no secrets to hide.'" That husband just won't be Matt James.
Victoria Fuller's mugshot nearly preceeded a year-long sentence
Victoria Fuller was the resident villain of Season 24 of The Bachelor, and somehow, she made it to the final three even though she wasn't all that nice to Peter Weber. As Elite Daily reports, she appeared to "gaslight" the star during their hometown date and still managed to get a rose — but this wasn't her most controversial controversy.
First, the star's Cosmopolitan cover was pulled after photos surfaced from an old modeling campaign in which she wore clothing emblazoned with "White Lives Matter." The company behind it, We Love Marlins, supposedly aimed to raise awareness about overfishing white, blue, and black marlins. What's unclear is why a confederate flag was also featured in the campaign and why Fuller wanted to align herself with it.
Beyond the racial implications of her ill-advised modeling endeavor, Fuller also joined the Bachelor mugshot club, where she narrowly avoided spending a year in jail due to her astounding knack for never facing the consequences of her bad behavior. It's a skill she pretty much perfected on The Bachelor. According to The Sun, Fuller was sentenced to 365 days behind bars after her 2017 DUI arrest, but she didn't even spend 365 minutes. Her sentence was suspended, and she landed 24 months on probation. In addition, her license was restricted — not revoked — for 12 months, and she had to pay $461 in fees and fines.
Chris Soules' mugshot followed a fatal accident
In a bizarre turn of events, Chris Soules, who did not find lasting love in Season 19 of The Bachelor, actually started dating Victoria Fuller in the summer of 2020. But when you think about it, the pair have a lot in common. Both stars have awful driving records and dodged mass outrage. Plus, their dual mugshots would make an adorable save the date for their future wedding. So, what did Soules do to join the Bachelor mugshot club?
As much as we might joke about his recent relationship, his arrest record is actually incredibly tragic. Soules accidentally killed someone in a hit and run in August 2017. According to reports from Us Weekly and TMZ, the Bachelor star "rear-ended a John Deere tractor" with his Chevy pickup, sending both vehicles into a ditch. The former corn farmer called 911 and waited for paramedics, but left before the police arrived. The 66-year-old victim, Kenneth Mosher, was pronounced dead at the hospital.
People later reported that Soules was "charged with leaving the scene of a fatal car accident" at 1:16 a.m. the following morning, and was allegedly "unwilling to cooperate with police," according to a court video obtained by a local NBC news affiliate. Though they found alcohol containers in his vehicle, Soules wasn't charged with a DUI, and he managed to avoid a felony by pleading guilty to a lesser charge. According to the Des Moines Register, he was sentenced to two years on probation.
From The Bachelor to a bachelorette party arrest
The Bachelor's Amanda Stanton is one of the few people who have actually found love within the Bachelor Nation, albeit temporarily. After failing to win over Ben Higgins during Season 20, she met her fiancé on Season 3 of Bachelor In Paradise. That relationship failed, and so did her appearance on Season 4, but she got something better than a husband — a book deal.
Stanton's memoir, Now Accepting Roses, opened the lid on some of her most scandalous moments, and included an attempt to downplay her 2018 arrest. According to Us Weekly, the reality star's mugshot followed her arrest for "battery constituting domestic violence." Stanton was charged after an incident in a Las Vegas hotel room where she celebrated her friend's bachelorette party with her then-boyfriend Bobby Jacobs. When neighbors called in a noise complaint, Bobby had to address security, who came to investigate.
"I don't know what got into me, but I suppose liquid courage happens to the best of us in the worst moments sometimes. I barged up to the door and 'pushed' Bobby aside to get in front of him to speak to security myself," Stanton wrote in her memoir (via Us Weekly). She then denied any "domestic violence" happened, claiming, "The press was saying I shoved Bobby, but anyone who sees us knows that isn't even possible. I'm 5'3". He's 6'7"!"
Per TMZ, security called the police, and Stanton was cuffed, but her case was later dismissed.
A DUI earned this Bachelor star her mugshot
Jubilee Sharpe is another Bachelor baddie from Ben Higgins' season, but the star has had an extraordinarily difficult life. In an interview with People, the Haitian-born army veteran revealed that she spent time living with her grandmother, who was dying of leprosy, following the death of her parents and three brothers. Ultimately, both her and her sister ended up in an orphanage where only one of them was adopted.
"My dad came to Haiti to do relief work and he showed up to the orphanage and [wanted to adopt me]. He tried to adopt my sister ... they found out she had an incurable disease and wasn't able to be adopted," she told People, adding that years later "the person who did my adoption told me she was probably dead."
It's no wonder that host Chris Harrison drew criticism for labeling the fan-favorite "complicated." Things in her life were complicated, and that includes how she ended up with a mugshot after a 2020 DUI arrest. According to TMZ, the cop who arrived to the scene of a one-vehicle accident found Sharpe "with bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and [reeking] of booze." Sharpe reportedly refused a BAC test, and was cuffed after failing a number of field sobriety tests. Per Page Six, the star was "forced to surrender her license" before she was released from jail "on her own recognizance." As of this writing, it's not clear what happened during her arraignment, but it doesn't look like she's in jail.
Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s mugshot proves even race car drivers can have terrible driving records
There is truly some irony in Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s arrest. The Season 22 star is actually a race car driver like his dad, Motorsports Hall of Famer Arie Luyendyk Sr. — or at least he was a race car driver. It's unclear if he's actually allowed to drive, and even if he is, he probably shouldn't be. The former bachelor has a terrible driving record that, according to Page Six, consists of "multiple traffic violations, including speeding, failure to obey a traffic signal, unsafe lane changing, and for failing to provide proof of insurance." Was he involved in street racing or was he late to an open house? (He's also apparently a real estate agent, a man of many talents that don't include following traffic laws).
According to the Daily Mail, Luyendyk Jr. was arrested in 2008 for driving with a suspended license after he was already ticketed for driving with a suspended license earlier in the year. His mugshot resurfaced a decade later after he became one of the most hated bachelors in all of Bachelor Nation. The star single-handedly ignited mass outrage after proposing to Becca Kufrin only to callously dump her in the finale and marry runner-up Lauren Burnham. To this day, the couple still endures public scrutiny. Let's just hope that the Bachelor star learns the rules of the road before Burnham delivers their twins.
Colton Underwood probably won't ask Elyse Dehlbom for a ride
Elyse Dehlbom was a fan favorite during Colton Underwood's Bachelor season but only because Bachelor Nation never rode shotgun while she was behind the wheel. By all accounts, the contestant is a terrible driver, and it's ultimately what led to her arrest and the above mugshot.
According to In Touch, Dehlbom began her journey into traffic-related violations as a fresh-faced 18-year-old who "failed to yield" during a left hand turn. She had to pay a $150 ticket. Since then, she was "caught driving with a suspended license and no insurance" and — the most egregious offense — arrested for a DUI. Per the tabloid's report, in 2015, Dehlbom was pulled over for having "expired tabs" on her vehicle, only to be given a blood test, which she colossally failed. Her BAC was .283% (or well over the legal limit) and she was thrown in jail, where she sat until she could see a judge.
Despite the fact that her blood test was very conclusive evidence, the Bachelor star pleaded not guilty. The judge didn't agree, and sentenced her to 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, but she ended up slinking by with just 20 hours of community service and a $775 fine. Not too long after, she got back behind the wheel and nabbed a citation for "failing to stop at a red light and not having a current vehicle registration." Girl, just take an Uber next time!
A fake ID earned this Bachelor star a felony and a mugshot
As the only man to serve as the series titular bachelor twice, Brad Womack has undeniably deserved a spot in the unofficial Bachelor Nation Hall of Fame. The bar owner appeared in Season 11 and Season 15, which ended with his engagement to Emily Maynard. When the couple didn't make it, Maynard became the Bachelorette and Womack largely disappeared from the franchise, aside from a brief period where he dated Bachelor alumni Ashlee Frazier.
Of course, during this time, Bachelor Nation couldn't help but dig up dirt from the star's past — and this time they dug deep. In 2011, Womack's mugshot stemming from a 1993 arrest started making the tabloid rounds, but it wasn't easy to find because he was going by a different name at the time, Stephen Bradley Pickelsimer. According to Starcasm, the entrepreneur was cuffed for "possessing a forged driver's license," a full-on felony, which should make some people think twice about their teenage fake IDs. Per an old Star report (via the Daily News), he was also arrested for "public intoxication and passing a bad check."
Womack didn't get in too much trouble for the ID. He only had to serve 180 days of probation, and no, he wasn't an aging 30-something when his mugshot was originally taken. He was about 20 years old at the time, but Texas requires mugshots to be regularly updated. This one was from 2009.
Bachelor winner Mary Delgado boasts multiple mugshots
Recent fans of The Bachelor might not be familiar with Season 6 winner Mary Delgado. Throughout 25 seasons, a lot of girls have filtered through those doors in similar glitzy ball gowns with similar hair extensions and similar made-up job titles. It's very hard to keep track, but real stans know that Delgado made a name for herself not with her win, but with her arrest record. The star was arrested for assaulting her fiance, the literal bachelor, in 2007, testing the sanctity of the final rose. How dare she?
According to People, Delgado and former bachelor Byron Velvick "got in an angry confrontation" in their Tampa, Fla. townhouse, where the rose recipient reportedly "hit Velvick in the face, splitting his upper lip." She was charged with misdemeanor battery and spent 14 hours behind bars before she was released (mugshot pictured left). ESPN reports that Delgado was not prosecuted, and the pair actually lasted two more years before calling it quits. Sadly, this was not her last time in cuffs. Her journey was just beginning.
In 2008, People reports that the former NFL cheerleader was arrested at a bar in Texas after refusing to leave. She was "charged with public intoxication" and "resisting arrest" (and she decidedly looks anything but cheery in her mugshot, pictured right). Two years later, as reported by R Online, Delgado was sentenced to 50 hours of community service following a DUI charge that was "reduced to reckless driving."