If you have ever stumbled upon the ever-so popular Bachelor franchise, you might’ve heard of Rachel Lindsay.
Rachel was originally a contestant on Season 21 of The Bachelor with Nick Viall back in 2017.
She placed third overall on Nick’s season of The Bachelor and months later became the lead of its spinoff, The Bachelorette, in its 13th season, where she became engaged to chiropractor Bryan Abasolo.
Rachel and Bryan were married on August 24, 2019, in Cancun, Mexico. But, before Bachelor Nation could bask in the celebration of a rare, successful marriage from the franchise, Bryan filed for divorce on December 31, 2023.
Since her time on The Bachelorette, Rachel’s career has skyrocketed, with the attorney becoming an established entertainment personality and podcast host of one of my favorite listens, the Higher Learning podcast alongside Van Lathan.
On a Feb. 11 episode of the Pop Syllabus podcast, Rachel shared rare comments about her devastating divorce from Bryan, for whom she agreed to pay a lump sum of $500,000 in spousal support when they finalized their divorce in 2025.
“I felt powerless that I didn’t have a prenup. He took so much from me,” Rachel shared with host Christiana Mbakwe Medina. “But I feel powerful that I was able to do it in a year,” she said, referring to paying off the $500,000 spousal support.
Rachel said that Bryan was “ruthless” about the spousal support and “there was no compromising” with the divorce.
“It was kind of a perfect storm as to why I ended up moving forward with the marriage, even though I saw the issues,” Rachel continued, adding that at the time, dating Bryan, she felt pressured to be married with kids already. “The narrative that I couldn’t be loved because I focused so much on career, all of that was in me.”
Rachel had remained rather quiet about the split, but now wants to change that narrative after Bryan decided to speak publicly about the divorce. “My ex did a terrible YouTube show, and he told stuff that was personal. So, you opened the door, so let’s talk about it.”
“This could’ve gone completely different,” Rachel said. “We could’ve had a private divorce, we could’ve had private mediation, a private judge. I could’ve given you money secretly. You could’ve held onto your reputation. All of it. That is not what happened.”
The former Extra correspondent said her divorce from Bryan has encouraged her to speak out so other women can learn from her experience. “My divorce was public and messy for a reason. Learn from me. It’s not a simple as getting a prenup. It’s just the pressures that we feel as a woman at a certain age… career driven.”
“I had to let go of the fear, the shame and the embarrassment of getting a divorce,” she said.
You can watch the full episode paying homage to Black women in reality television here.