Trista Sutter Recalls ‘Being Punishable’ After Reading Comments

The former Bachelorette Trista Sutter looks at the changes with the franchise since he took over in 2003.

“I’m very thankful that social media didn’t exist when I was playing Bachelor again The Bachelorette,” Sutter, 52, said TV Insider in an interview published on Sunday, January 19. “We had message boards, and I was a glutton for punishment and I would read them. There were trolls back then, but they couldn’t reach you directly. You should have read what their opinions were on the message boards. I did that, it wasn’t fun.”

He went on to say, “I was going to have a really hard time. I’m really sensitive and I would have a really hard time with things people would come up to me and say I’m sure about. People have faced death threats from this game, for being themselves and trying to find love. It’s crazy. It has completely changed.”

More than twenty years since the discovery of the One in Ryan SutterTrista continues to watch ABC’s hit reality show. (Trista and Ryan, now 50, were engaged at the time The Bachelorette season 1 and tied the knot in 2003. (They share son Maxwell, 16, and daughter Blakesley, 15.)

“I feel like the premise of this show is still the reason I watch it, and that’s for people to find love in an unconventional way,” Trista said. “That will never change for me. When we moved to Colorado and started a family, it was a smart decision to create a more quiet life away from the wild adventures that took place around and after the wedding. I loved our life and raising our kids in the mountains, and now we’re in Denver.”

As Trista recently tried her hand at another reality show no Special Forces: The World’s Toughest ExperimentRyan sparked concerns that their marriage was on the rocks when he shared a series of cryptic posts on social media.

Trista, who was away filming the Fox reality show when the rumors spread, couldn’t address the speculation surrounding their relationship or explain why she wasn’t there — until her casting was revealed.

“Everyone is quick to think the worst,” Trista said to herself Us Weekly about the rumors surrounding his marriage. “I think it’s human nature to be honest. I mean I didn’t know what was going on in the world. I say, ‘You’ve all lost your minds.’ Sorry, but why is there such a fuss about this?”

Trista remembers her phone being flooded with messages from worried loved ones. “I had people texting me non-stop, saying, ‘Are you okay?’ What’s going on? Do you have a mood disorder? Are you guys divorced? Are you guilty of isolation? What’s going on?’” Trista said. “I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no, no,’ to everything. You’ll find out why and it’ll all make sense.”

Despite the uproar that ensued, Trista put the rumors to rest. “I have to say it made me feel good that people really care,” said Trista. “We have been married for 21 years. The show was there a long time ago, and the fact that people still care about me was very humbling and very sweet, even though it was very chaotic.”