ROUND ROCK, TEXAS: One thing that aficionados of 'The Bachelor' and 'The Bachelorette' dislike about the participants is that they are there "for the wrong reasons." It's also a no-no for any show in the series to have a girlfriend or boyfriend back home.
Fans were therefore upset to learn that Sam McKinney from Season 21 could have had a girlfriend before 'The Bachelorette'.
The story began when Raeley Polasek, a woman he dated, posted a TikTok about her partner appearing on Season 21 of 'The Bachelorette' shortly after they started dating. She didn't specifically name Sam in her first video, and she didn't mention him in her second.
She did, however, provide images as evidence that she attended a wedding with Sam following their meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, and that they had a brief online relationship before his departure to shoot 'The Bachelorette'.
Sam McKinney's ex considered relationship with 'The Bachelorette' Season 21 star to be exclusive
In her very first TikTok, she said, "We got super close, to say the least."
"I don't really wanna spill our business on TikTok that much, but, yeah, we got close. And he flew back to his state, and we obviously kept in contact every day and made a plan of when he was going to come down next. I was in school at the time, so it made it kind of difficult for me to travel up to go see him, so he came and saw me again."
From then on, they spoke many times a day and tried to see each other as much as possible. Raeley claims that during their talk regarding exclusivity, they discussed how much more than just a passing fancy they had for one another at the time, despite the fact that they both expressed strong emotions and "liked" one another.
'The Bachelorette' Season 21 star Sam McKinney accused of ghosting ex
When Raeley invited Sam to join him for Spring Break in Florida with a buddy, even though he wasn't sure he could make it, something seemed off. Sam requested to speak with her over the phone when she returned from vacation and sensed something wasn't right because he hadn't texted her at all.
"He wasn't replying to my texts as fast, and I think we only talked twice a day, and so then this threw up some flags because I was used to talking to him 24/7 throughout the day, no matter if it was Instagram, Snapchat, TikToks, or text message. But yeah, he got silent," she added in her video.
Woman claims Sam McKinney applied for 'The Bachelorette' Season 21 while dating
She clarified that before he had ever met her, Sam had applied to be on 'The Bachelorette' and had informed her he would be appearing on the show.
"He did say that he applied before he met me, but yeah, it doesn't make it any better," she said. "So that's where we are now."
However, Sam hasn't yet addressed the claim on social media or in any other way. For the time being, Raeley's account and the images she posted serve as the only evidence for the claim that Sam had a girlfriend prior to 'The Bachelorette'.
Sam McKinney claims to have been cheated by fiancé prior to 'The Bachelorette' Season 21
Sam said that he had been single for "coming up on a year" following his breakup with a lady he had known since middle school prior to appearing on 'The Bachelorette'.
"We got engaged and had our life planned out ahead of us, but she ended up cheating on me and there was just no repairing that relationship," he said.
"That was definitely the biggest heartbreak I've ever experienced. But I wasn't going to let that situation right there be something that was going to stop me from chasing my dream, which is to be a husband, to be a father."
