Trista Sutter Recalls Being ‘Glutton for Punishment’ Reading Comments

Former Bachelorette Trista Sutter is reflecting on the changes with the franchise since she was the lead in 2003.

“I’m very grateful social media was not around when I was on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette,” Sutter, 52, told TV Insider in an interview published on Sunday, January 19. “We had message boards, and I was a glutton for punishment and would go read those. There were trolls back then, but they just couldn’t access you directly. You had to read what their comments were on the message boards. I did that, and it wasn’t fun.”

She continued, “I would have had a really hard time. I’m really sensitive and would have had a really hard time with the things people would come at me and say I’m sure. People have dealt with death threats from the show, just by being themselves and trying to find love. It’s kind of crazy. It’s completely changed.”

More than two decades since finding The One in Ryan Sutter, Trista continues to watch the hit ABC reality show. (Trista and Ryan, now 50, got engaged during 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 the show is still why I watch, and that is for people to find love in a very unconventional way,” Trista said. “That will never change for me. When we moved to Colorado and started a family, it was a conscious decision to create a more quiet life away from the wild ride that was happening around the wedding and afterwards. 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 with Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, Ryan sparked concern that their marriage was on the rocks when he shared a series of cryptic posts via social media.

Trista, who was away filming the Fox reality show when the rumors swirled, could not address the speculation surrounding their relationship nor explain why she was away — until her casting was revealed.

“Everyone is quick to assume the worst things,” Trista exclusively told Us Weekly about the rumors surrounding her marriage. “I think it’s human nature, honestly. I mean, I didn’t know what happened to the world. I’m like, ‘All of you have lost your minds.’ Sorry, but why the huge hubbub about this?”

Trista recalled her phone being flooded with text messages from concerned loved ones. “I had people texting me nonstop, ‘Are you OK? What’s happening? Are you having a nervous breakdown? Did you guys get divorced? Are you having a trial separation? What’s happening?’” Trista said. “I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no, no,’ to all of the things. You’ll find out why and it’ll all make sense.”

Despite the chaos that ensued, Trista put a positive spin on the rumors. “I do have to say it made me feel good that people actually cared,” Trista said. “We’ve been married for 21 years. The show was on a really long time ago, and the fact that people still care was very humbling to me and very sweet, even though it was very chaotic.”