Sydney Gordon’s journey on The Bachelor may have come to an end, but the drama has not.
Following her elimination on the Monday, February 12, episode, Sydney, 28, took to Instagram to address the response to her clash with fellow contestant Maria Georgas. In an emotional video, Sydney shared “two of the thousands of hurtful messages” she’s received since Joey Graziadei’s season premiered, with trolls calling her a “f–king bitch” and “a skank.”
“Every time I open up Instagram, TikTok, I am constantly reminded off all the insecurities that it took me so long to overcome. To hear, ‘You’re ugly’ [and] ‘You look like a man,’ it almost feels like I went back to square one,” she explained on Monday, claiming she’s even been told she would be “better off dead.”
She continued: “People struggle with [suicidal] ideation. That is something that should not be taken lightly. That is not something that we should be joking about. We as a society need to be better, we need to do better, we deserve better.”
Sydney went on to remind fans that despite how Bachelor Nation stars are portrayed on TV, they are still “real human being[s]” and that the words used in the comments section can “pierce very deeply.”
She acknowledged that “there are certain things” that she would have done “differently” on her Bachelor journey, saying, “I can’t speak of details of the show … I will be keeping my comments off to protect my peace, my family and friends’ peace as well. Thank you for listening.”
True to her word, there were no comments left on her post, which was captioned with a bandaged heart emoji.
Bachelor Nation fans met Sydney last month as she searched for a connection with Joey, 28. She quickly found herself at the center of this season’s drama after she told contestant Madina Alam that Maria, 29, had belittled Madina’s insecurities about her age. Sydney proceeded to tell Joey that Maria “verbally attacked her” while discussing the situation and that Maria was responsible for creating tension in the mansion.
Maria continuously denied speaking about Madina’s age with ill intent and repeatedly shut down Sydney’s bullying accusations, but Sydney doubled down.
Sydney and Maria’s feud came to a head on Monday as the pair joined Joey for a two-on-one date in Malta to address their issues. Although Joey struggled to determine who was telling the truth, he chose to send Sydney home because of his stronger connection with Maria.
Before the elimination aired, Bachelor Nation alum Ashley Iaconetti stood up for Sydney via her Instagram Story. “Please be kind to our friend,” she captioned a recent selfie with Sydney and former Bachelor contestant Jill Chin. “Sometimes you just have to have been there to understand why people made the moves they did.”
Ashley, 35, claimed on her “Almost Famous” podcast earlier this month that the full context of the feud might be “missing” from the show. “This is all an argument over nothing and it certainly is not just about Madina and the old comment,” she argued.
Cohost Ben Higgins, however, criticized Sydney for “causing conflict with Maria for whatever reason,” adding, “[Sydney] is beautiful. She is confident. Obviously, you said it, so I have to trust you. She’s cool. She’s got so much going on. [So], Sydney, what are you doing? Give it up.”
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
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