Monday, June 7, 2021

What We Learned Doing a Deep Dive Into Katie Thurston's Bachelorette Suitors. You're Welcome.

What We Learned Doing a Deep Dive Into Katie Thurston's Bachelorette Suitors. You're Welcome.

  • E! News did some serious social media digging on the 29 men viewers will meet on The Bachelorette's 17th season premiere. Follow or mute at your own discretion.
  • Another season, another fresh crop of aspiring Instagram influencers.

    The Bachelorette is back in action, with Katie Thurston‘s journey to find love officially kicking off tonight. And, because we know you will likely be watching with your phone in your hand, scrolling Instagram to check out the suitors, we’ve done the leg work for you and have the cramped fingers to prove it. 

    In the two-hour premiere, Bachelor Nation will meet 29 men vying for their shot at reality TV love with Katie, and, you know, fame. To truly help you get to know the guys before they exit the limo and execute any ill-advised stunt they were convinced to do in the name of making a lasting first impression, we tracked them all down on Instagram to get a sense of who they really are—or at least who they want you to think they are.

    So what did we find?  Too many beach photos to count, a plethora of pun-filled captions and dog dads. So. Many. Dog. Dads. Ooh, and one contestant has a familial connection to a franchise fan-favorite that we found quite intriguing. 

    Joshua, Andrew, Marty, Kyle, The Bachelorette Men, Season 17
    photos
    The Bachelorette 2021: Meet the Men Competing for Katie Thurston’s Heart

    Here’s what we learned about all of Clare’s men from going through their social media accounts. (Note: Marty does not seem to have a presence on social, nor does the mysterious box.)

    Aaron

    Instagram Followers: 3,051
    Instagram Bio: Don’t sweat the small stuff. It’s all small stuff.
    What We Learned: The account executive from California is great amuse-bouche for what’s to come from the rest of the suitors. His page is filled with photos from the gym, beach hangs and puppy pics. Prepare for a lot of that trifecta moving forward.

    Andrew M.

    Instagram Followers: 2,357
    Insta Bio: Bachelorette S17, Filipino| Croatian, Newport Beach CA. Former pro water polo player. Current attorney For The People. Future semi-pro beach napper.
    What We Learned: A quick scroll tells us Andrew loves tropical locations, snapping selfies and a witty, sometimes cheesy, Instagram caption. One example? “No suit and thai required here,” accompanied a shirtless pic from Thailand. We’re gonna need more wine to go with that cheese.

    Andrew S.

    Instagram Followers: 5,024
    Insta Bio: “No amount of money ever bought a sec of time” Chi, Winona state univ. Vienna @viennavikings #24
    What We Learned: Andrew is very proud of his college football career, as he should be, with a link to a reel of his highlights in his bio. He also has a photo from February of last year, with several Bachelor alumni, including Clay Harbour and Dustin Kendrick, which makes sense as he is Clay’s younger cousin. Yes, Bachelor Nation really is that small.

    Austin

    Instagram Followers: 1,464
    Insta Bio: Journey to my higher self @bacheloretteabc 17
    What We Learned: He only has 11 photos on his grid, which is a little weird to us for a 25-year-old. Right? Right. Of those 11, though, it’s clear the real estate agent loves the gym and is very excited he is on The Bachelorette. Like Drake, he just seems very in his feelings.

    Brandon

    Instagram Followers: 1,550
    Insta Bio: Chicago → Tokyo → NYC →「 」
    What We Learned: Well, the Astoria resident is vacationing in Hawaii on the day of the premiere, so we’re mainly super jealous. But enough about our wanderlust. Brandon loves his motorcycle, a motivational caption to accompany a photo of said bike and wearing tuxedos.

    Brendan

    Instagram Followers: 9,703
    Insta Bio: Toronto | Muskoka
    What We Learned: He already has a highlight reel for the show on his Instagram, which just feels worth noting. He has also nailed the pensive-while-drinking-coffee snap and is usually holding a beverage or his dog in any given photo.

    Christian

    Instagram Followers: 3,441
    Insta Bio: Professional optimist, Uncertified life coach, Real Estate Agent/investor
    What We Learned: Per his bio, it seems he can sell you inspiration, a lifestyle and a house! Prior to joining the show, he hadn’t posted on Instagram since November 2019. Leading up to that hiatus, he was pretty much your average Insta bro, with photos from Coachella, the beach and a Tough Mudder race.

    Cody

    Instagram Followers: 10,100
    Insta Bio: San Diego, Pacific Beach. The Bachelorette Season 17
    What We Learned: Though he’s a “zipper salesman,” Cody is somehow already dubbed a “Public Figure” on his Instagram account. He is fully owning that he brought a blow-up doll with him on the first night, loves going to music festivals and having professional photos taken during his workouts, so we don’t know how much more we really need to say.

    Connor B.

    Instagram Followers: 2,397
    Insta Bio: Nashville, math teacher, spin instructor, songwriter, dueling pianist
    What We Learned: OK, just based on the sheer range of his bio alone we want to be best friends with Connor. And did we mention he dresses up like a cat on night one? Find a man who can figure out the tip every single time you go out to dinner, tone your glutes and rock whiskers.

    Conor C.

    Instagram Followers: 3,622
    Insta Bio: Oklahoma State Alum, Former Professional Baseball Thrower, Newport Beach, CA, Col 3:23 – GIL
    What We Learned: While the franchise tends to skew more towards pro football players, one-N Conor was actually drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016, so that’s pretty cool. Aside from baseball, Conor also seems to love various other outdoor sports and attends a lot of weddings. Relatable and we feel for his bank account.

    David

    Instagram Followers: 1,617
    Insta Bio: Nashville, TN
    What We Learned: Honestly, we have nothing snarky to say because David seems like a lovely guy. He loves a solo pic with a self-deprecating caption, which we can definitely appreciate. Sometimes, simple really is best.

    Gabriel

    Instagram Followers: 3,638
    Insta Bio: Loves ripening
    What We Learned: Gabriel is quite the photographer and model, often posing for his own portraits. Per his website, his work has been featured in Interview Magazine, Elle Décor and Rolling Stone, and he’s shot campaigns for Gucci, Calvin Klein and Oscar De La Renta. It probably also helps that he could step in as a model, if need be.

    Garrett

    Instagram Followers: 1,803
    Insta Bio: San Diego, CA
    What We Learned: Basically, he just really loves his dog Tilly. A lot.

    Greg

    Instagram Followers: 5,521
    Insta Bio: n/a
    What We Learned: Don’t ask us why but the 28-year-old gives us Jason Tartick vibes. Like, he doesn’t even have a bio! He just seems very normal…or as normal as someone who will attempt to find love on reality TV can seem.

    Hunter

    Instagram Followers: 3,522
    Insta Bio: HTX. Single Dad |Mental Health Warrior | Fitness Lover | Pun Addict
    What We Learned: OK, Hunter does that thing where he often doesn’t post a caption with his pics. And we get it, words are hard, but he does have a healthy 63,000 followers on TikTok. Hunter also has a random reality TV connection: He’s friends with The Challenge: All StarsKellyAnne Judd.

    Jeff

    Instagram Followers: 2,315
    Insta Bio: 1,000 year old vampire.
    What We Learned: We predict Jeff will either go home night one or become a viral fan favorite. He seems super into pop culture and not into taking himself too seriously, so we’ll see how that shakes out for him.

    John

    Instagram Followers: 3,853
    Insta Bio: Santa Cruz, CA, San Diego, CA, Be kind
    What We Learned: We’re calling it: John will be one of the most popular contestants of the season. The 27-year-old just seems fun, with his page filled with adventurous pics of him jumping out of a plane and surfing. Plus, his caption for a photo from night one with Katie is very sweet: “Taking a second to appreciate the stillness of such a special moment with this strong, goofy, and genuine human being.” Ugh, we’re getting soft, aren’t we?

    Josh

    Instagram Followers: 3,054
    Insta Bio: UF Alum, MIA
    What We Learned: He is the self-proclaimed donut king, graduated from the University of Miami in 2018 and was a member of the school’s cheer team. In addition to being a proud Gator, Josh also appears to be very close with his mom.

    Justin

    Instagram Followers: 3,999
    Insta Bio: Baltimore
    What We Learned: Justin is saving his dance moves for marriage, which is one way to keep the intrigue going. But, more importantly, the investment sales consultant is a quite talented painter, often showing off his work on his Instagram.

    Karl

    Instagram Followers: 40,100
    Insta Bio:
    Karl Smith | Speaker
    Entrepreneur
    Speaker
    Success Coach
    Founder: @nextlevel_success
    Become what you must to achieve that you what you love. #liveyourvision
    ksmithinspires.com
    What We Learned: Well, we think Karl’s rather in-depth bio kind of speak for itself.

    Kyle

    Instagram Followers: 2,628
    Insta Bio: Just Keep Swimming. UF Alumnus x 2 / 47 states and 14 countries so far / Sarasota/Ft. Lauderdale
    What We Learned: The 26-year-old is another loud and proud Gator, thanks to his two degrees from the University of Florida. He is currently working as a technical recruiter. To be honest, we have no idea what that means. We recap reality TV shows for a living. Also, he posed for several photos in front of his new car in 2019 and we found that very amusing. (It was a Lexus, in case you were wondering.)

    Landon

    Instagram Followers: 6,048
    Insta Bio: @bacheloretteabc 17, #Sunshine, Former Guard at the University of Houston, Contact: landongoesling.media@gmail.com
    What We Learned: In addition to rocking a pink suit on night one, Landon, whose nickname is Sunshine, also sports the color several times on his feed, which is filled with ‘fit pics. He also has a snap with Drake, tagged GQ magazine in one of his captions (?) and unironically wore a Von Dutch hat, not all at once.

    Marcus

    Instagram Followers: 1,944
    Insta Bio: REALTOR, Licensed WA/OR. Model @q6models. DJ.
    What We Learned: A real estate agent, model and DJ? And now you’re on The Bachelorette? Congrats Marcus, you’ve won millennial bingo.

    Michael

    Instagram Followers: 1,829
    Insta Bio: delightfully average
    entrepreneur | dad | aspiring do-gooder
    #raisingjames #thel4project
    positive vibes
    What We Learned: A single father, Michael started L4 Project, a non-profit clothing company, in 2019 after he lost his wife to breast cancer. So, excuse us while we go cry a million tears.

    Mikey

    Instagram Followers: 3,822
    Insta Bio: Jesus | Family | Dogs
    From Surprise, AZ
    Live in San Diego, CA
    Love to Banter
    Ecclesiastes 12:1
    What We Learned: The former minor league baseball and college basketball player is now a personal trainer who, as his bio states, is all about Jesus, family and dogs. Seriously, all of his photos hits at least one of those buckets.

    Quartney

    Instagram Followers: 1,829
    Insta Bio: Biology Nerd, Dallas, TX, Faith-Filled
    Owner – @ironmusclenutrition
    What We Learned: Another suitor, another dog dad! Quartney consider his pet Leah to be the “best gift” he’s received since graduating in 2019 from Stephen F. Austin University. Since then, he’s started a supplement company.

    Thomas

    Instagram Followers: 1,129
    Insta Bio: Always choose kindness. I love helping people. And appetizers. San Diego
    What We Learned: He only has four photos on his Instagram, one being his headshot from The Bachelorette. For that one, he used a quote from Titanic as his caption, so maybe he’s only recently woken up from a coma? Also, the real estate agent is yet another dog lover.

    Tre

    Instagram Followers: 878
    Insta Bio: n/a
    What We Learned: As proud TV-obsessed millennials, it is our civic duty to let you know that Tre is from Covington, Georgia, which is where The Vampire Diaries filmed. Now that that is out of the way, Tre is another one of Katie’s suitors who doesn’t have a vast social media footprint, with just five photos on his grid. Per his LinkedIn, the 26-year-old works as a software engineer at the corporate offices for The Home Depot.

    The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.