‘The Bachelorette’ Winner Devin Strader Was Arrested, Had Restraining Order From Ex-Girlfriend Before Show

Lexy Perez and Jackie Strause
·5 min read
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Prior to joining the cast of ABC’s The Bachelorette — and ultimately winning the final rose and being briefly engaged to lead Jenn Tran — Devin Strader was arrested and had a restraining order filed against him.

RealitySteve, who reports spoilers and news on the Bachelor franchise, was first to report the news, publishing an affidavit reportedly from Strader’s arrest warrant on one felony count of “simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling” seven years before the show’s most recent season. At the time, Strader was arrested on accusations that he burglarized an ex-girlfriend’s home in Louisiana. His ex-girlfriend also had a restraining order against him at the time.

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In the affidavit prepared by the Baton Rouge Police Department and filed in 2017 by the unnamed ex-girlfriend, the woman alleged that after a trip out of town, she returned to find her home burglarized with many of her personal items broken and/or thrown on the floor. The diamond necklace Strader had given her while they were dating was missing. According to the woman, she and Strader lived two doors away from each other.

The woman also alleged that Strader came to her house multiple times, “banging on the door several times and screaming at her,” which led her to eventually file a restraining order against him.

She also alleged that Strader “made a fire out in the street with what appeared to be the actual restraining order” and when she “had a tire flattened in her vehicle and when it was getting changed, [Strader] came outside and began laughing at her.”

The ex-girlfriend also noted other past incidents in the now-unsealed petition, obtained by THR. She alleged that Strader once “put me in a choke hold covering my mouth” and “spit on me and threw his drink on me at [a] Pelicans game in front of everyone in the stands.” And after she awoke to bruises on her “knees, elbow, stomach, arms” and a “pounding” head, she claims he said he almost “killed” her and didn’t “want to talk about it.”

In addition to the “physical abuse,” she alleged Strader “verbally and mentally abused” her. “He has degraded me and taken everything from me. My self confidence, self-esteem, and I hope no other girl ever has to go through what I went through.”

After Strader’s arrest on burglary charges, Entertainment Weekly reported that Strader pleaded guilty to charges of criminal trespass and simple criminal damage to property of less than $500. He also received one year of unsupervised probation.

News of Strader’s background re-ups questions surrounding ABC’s vetting process for the show’s cast, given this is not the first time a casting controversy has clouded a season. After one of season 14 Bachelorette Becca Kufrin’s contestants was cast despite a pending sexual assault case, ABC execs said that the team had discovered a loophole they have since been able to correct in the background process and have applied from 2019 and on.

What was public during Strader’s vetting process was the affidavit of a burglary arrest. The details in the restraining order, however, were sealed when Bachelorette producers were conducting their background checks, a production source tells THR. Strader would have presumably been asked about the sealed details; it’s not known when the details became unsealed or what Strader told producers at the time.

“We take the safety of our contestants very seriously and make every effort to conduct thorough diligence,” a source close to the show tells THR. “As exhaustive as our vetting process is, this protective order did not surface in our searches.”

Still, navigating the social media waters as viewers get to know and search for contestants has remained a complicated task in the reality show’s vetting process. Just yesterday, ABC’s Facebook page released the potential cast of Grant Ellis’ upcoming contestants. The early reveal gives the show time to gather feedback before the final list is announced. Ellis will be the franchise’s second-ever Black Bachelor when he leads the 2025 season.

During the Sept. 3 season finale of The Bachelorette, Tran proposed to Strader. However, the season ended in a dramatic heartbreak when Tran revealed during the After the Final Rose special, that, shortly after she proposed to him on the pretaped finale, he appeared to not be the person she had picked in the end. He called off their engagement through a phone call, she said when confronting him, through anger and tears, on the live TV stage earlier this month.

Strader recently shared a 13-minute video on Instagram in which he revealed private text messages between him and Tran as a means to defend himself and the relationship timeline presented. The video has since been deleted.

Shortly after the finale, it was announced that Tran would be competing on the new season of Dancing With the Stars, which premieres Tuesday night.

When speaking to THR on the press line during the DWTS premiere, Tran didn’t directly address Strader, but talked about her hopes to move forward.

“I’m pouring energy back into myself, and really just healing and focusing on me,” she said of pivoting to the dancing reality show. Noting that The Bachelorette and DWTS are “two very different shows,” she said that she learned to “be myself, do the best I can and [I’m] doing it with an open heart. So, absolutely, [The Bachelorette] has helped me.”

Update: On Sept. 19, Strader addressed the allegations coming to light, saying, in part, in a statement, “Most recently, there have been challenges from a low point in my past that have been brought up and severely misconstrued.” Read that story.

Sept. 18, 9 a.m. Updated with Tran’s DWTS quotes.
Sept. 17, 3:36 p.m. Updated with details from unsealed petition.

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