After his cryptic posts left Bachelor Nation worried about a divorce, Ryan Sutter has clarified that he and Trista Sutter have not broken up.
“I write what is on my mind at the moment,” Ryan, 49, explained in a post alongside a black and white selfie via Instagram on Saturday, May 18. “I write my feelings without regard for how they will be interpreted and with absolutely no intent to deceive or mislead anyone – that is the farthest thing from my mind. I choose to share my thoughts on occasion because it helps me process them and, I hope, may help others navigate their own lives.”
He continued, “Trista is fine. We are fine. We’re great. Trista is at a place in life where she is searching a bit. An opportunity presented itself that may help her on that quest. With her family’s support, she has taken it. Part of that process means that she is temporarily inaccessible to us. I miss her. We miss her.”
Ryan married Trista after meeting on the first season of The Bachelorette in 2003; they share son Maxwell, 16, and daughter Blakesley, 15. As one of Bachelor Nation’s most long-lasting success stories, fans love to check in on the couple via social media.
However, Ryan sparked concern when he first posted via Instagram on May 11 about hoping absence makes the heart grow fonder alongside a black-and-white photo of Trista. One day later, he revealed she wasn’t spending Mother’s Day with the family.
“I know you wish you were here for Mother’s Day. We wish you were too. But sometimes being a mom means letting go of their hands, granting independence and stimulating their courageous spirit,” Ryan captioned a family photo. “Sometimes it’s necessary to exemplify the characteristics you preach – to do rather than say. Sometimes it takes being uncomfortable and scared to show them that it’s ok to be uncomfortable and scared. Sometimes you have to go away so they know you’ll come back, that your love is not limited by distance or difficulty or time. Sometimes you have to do what you sometimes have to do. We’re proud of you mama pajama for everything you do for us, near or far, Happy Mother’s Day!!!”
He took to social media to again voice how much he missed Trista on Friday, May 17, explaining that he wished they could talk. “I want to know how you’re doing,” he explained. “I want to support and encourage and cheer you on. I want to be there for you. But I can’t. And that’s ok cause I know you need this time – time to discover yourself again.”
Ryan concluded with a message of support: “So I’ll be here for you instead. I’ll be here when you get back. I’ll be here to listen to you, to smile with you, maybe cry with you — I’ll be here to love you… I’ll be here… forever.”
Fans took to the comments section to voice their worries. “What’s going on are they separated having problems ? I hope not and they work things out such a great love story” one commenter asked while another added, “I’m not sure he realizes how much this makes it seems like she’s dead.”
Several members of Bachelor Nation speculated that Trista is away filming a reality TV show, and Ashley Iaconnetti supports that theory.
“I just wanna ask, like, where’s Trista? Because Ryan’s Instagram post on Mother’s Day was cryptic. Not in a bad way,” Iaconetti, 36, pointed out during the Wednesday, May 15, episode of her and Ben Higgins’ “Almost Famous” podcast.
“She’s away for two weeks,” Iaconetti continued. “Apparently, [former Bachelorette] Ali Fedotowsky is also away for two weeks, [she] had a very similar post. So, is she shooting a show? Is she on Special Forces? Because I told her she’d be perfect for Special Forces.”
For her part, Fedotowsky, 39, shared a screenshot of herself FaceTiming husband Kevin Manno and their son, Riley, 6, via Instagram on Wednesday. “Won’t have my phone for a while [and] this will by far be the longest I’ve ever gone without speaking to my family,” she noted.
Fedotowsky, who also shares daughter Molly, 7, with Manno, 40, added that she was a “blubbering bess” after saying “goodbye to my sweet boys.”
