Several “Bachelor Nation” Alums Received Tens Of Thousands Of Dollars In PPP Loans During The Pandemic

Bachelor Nation cranks out like five to ten solid influencers a year across their shows The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and Bachelor In Paradise. The hot-bodied twenty-somethings who go on that show aren’t even usually looking for love and are instead looking for a hotel or travel website to sponsor vacations where they wear rented designer merch and get to keep one piece of their choice valued under $500. The fucking dream! But then Coronavirus came along and made it “hard” for these reality messes turned influencers to travel and make money for doing absolutely nothing. TMZ says that some of the Bachelor folks dipped into PPP loans meant to help the needy! And no, Colton Underwood, being needy for attention does not count!

TMZ reports that the past Bachelor tricks who received PPP loans include Colton Underwood, Tayshia Adams, and Arie Luyendyk and Lauren Luyendyk. Lauren didn’t receive any money personally, but she’s married to Arie. The Paycheck Protection Program was part of the American government’s attempt to help people losing their jobs or wages during the pandemic. It was meant for small businesses that needed to keep their workforce employed. And it seems that three of the show alums have received tens of thousands of dollars from it. One other contestant, Dale Moss, applied for a loan but doesn’t seem to have been paid yet.

…New public records revealed companies associated with Bachelor stars like Tayshia Adams and Arie Luyendyk received loans in the past year in the amounts of $20,833 and $20,830 respectively.

The companies that actually received the PPP loans are interesting — Tayshia named her company Tayshia Adams Media LLC … and Arie’s is called Instagram Husband LLC. Yeah, fans are having a field day with that one.

Another notable one is the Colton Underwood Legacy Foundation, which received an $11,355 PPP loan. Dale Moss also applied for a $20k loan, but it doesn’t look like that one has been disbursed yet.

Reddit soon caught wind of such tomfoolery and people on social media started sharing the information from there. One Twitter user mentioned how Arie took out his loan the same month he bought a million-dollar home:

He took this loan out the same month he bought this 1.6 million dollar home in Scottsdale pic.twitter.com/i7omtzlnG0

— Erin (@Ejaos0914) June 29, 2021

A rep for Tayshia explained the situation to TMZ, and she got the loan because she is a business owner and she hired an “employee.”

“The primary purpose of the [PPP] Loan is to help business owners retain their existing employees and to create jobs for Americans who are financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a business owner, television and podcast host, and brand ambassador, Tayshia obtained a PPP Loan that enabled her to hire an employee, to whom she offers market-based pay and benefits.”

But listen, Tayshia is even more of a Saint™ because TMZ was told the employee she hired was “previously laid off from a media company at the start of the pandemic.” Her rep continued:

“Since exhausting the PPP Loan funds, but in light of the growing economy, Tayshia has committed to retaining her employee for the foreseeable future.”

Colton’s rep also defended him saying:

“Colton’s nonprofit filed for the PPP loan after their annual fundraising events were cancelled due to COVID. None of the PPP went directly to Colton. In fact, Colton has never received any form of payment from the foundation, all of the proceeds go directly to people living with cystic fibrosis.”

A rep for Arie had no comment. Dale’s rep also did not return to TMZ with a comment.

Former Bachelor and current podcast host, Nick Viall, commented on the matter by saying absolutely nothing of value–that the loan can be bad and good.

What’s legal isn’t always right. What’s illegal isn’t always wrong. Don’t know everyone’s situation, but my gut tells any alum applying for a PPP is both savvy and shitty. Interesting debate. https://t.co/D8adFojo41

— Nick Viall (@viallnicholas28) June 28, 2021

I’m not shocked these dumb rich people wanted to stay dumb and rich during the pandemic. And in the grand scheme of wealth, they’re absolutely the Poors of the celebrity echelon. What we really need to find out is if Chris Harrison got any PPP loans–if he did we know that now he can afford to pay them back.

Pics: Instagram/Instagram/Instagram