OK, I'll admit it. I definitely, maybe, sorta, kinda fell in love with Greg during The Bachelorette premiere. What can I say? I am powerless in front of a nervous, bumbling hottie. But behind the awkward uncle persona and the macaroni necklace, who is Greg Grippo, really? What are his hopes, his dreams, his most embarrassing moments?
To figure it out, my first stop is, of course, Greg's Instagram. Katie's first impression rose recipient isn't super big into social media. Well, either that, or he went through and deleted or hid any posts he didn't want Bach Nation to see. As of June 9, 2021, he only has 40 posts going all the way back to 2013, and is only tagged in two public photos. Some of the basics learned on his Insta are:
- He graduated from Saint Michael's College in 2016 after a successful college basketball career.
- He really, really, really likes to pose with his various baby nieces and nephews shirtless.
- He has a dog, but is a friend to all animals.
- He did a dubsmash of 22 Jump Street and shared it on the world wide web.
- He spent his 28th birthday with his family.
- And he's still nervous about The Bachelorette, despite getting that rose.
- He studied acting and finished a 2-year acting program at William Esper Studios in NYC in 2019, raising the question: is he here for the right reasons?
Let's pop on over to mom's Instagram, too...
So, now that we have a basic understanding of who Greg is, let's dive a little deeper. Through his Instagram, I found mom's and learned that he is one of 4 siblings and, as he told Katie on The Bachelorette, has 7 nieces and nephews with another on the way. (This explains why his official Bachelorette bio says he wants "at least six kids," which could be a problem considering Katie said she isn't sure she wants to have kids at all.) Greg's mom, Sandy, doesn't post a lot, but she did share this incredible throwback family photo featuring a baby Greg and his three older siblings.
I also decided to look him up at Saint Michael's College, because why the hell not, I've basically already reached a light stalker status. His official basketball team bio reveals he was Team Captain during the 2015-2016 season and was a consistent starting player on the team throughout his four years. Among the other nuggets revealed in Greg's basketball bio:
- He majored in business with a minor in gender studies (Katie is gonna LOVE that)
- His middle name is James
- He's 6'3"
Moving right along to his LinkedIn...
it looks like dear Gregory is currently working as an account manager at Mondo, a digital marketing firm. Fun fact: Mondo is currently hiring, so on the off chance Greg actually gets the boot on The Bachelorette and decides not to parlay his success into a play for The Bachelor or life of an influencer in LA, you might get a chance to work with him.
Unfortunately, it looks like Greg doesn't have an active Twitter account, so we'll just have to wait for him to make one so we can pump that for more information. Also, despite there being an @greggrippo on TikTok with the display name "Macaroni Necklace Man," it doesn't appear to actually belong to Greg. However, there are plenty of videos thirsting over him on the site, one of which reveals this key fact: he's not afraid to slide into the DMs.
So, to recap: Greg is sweet, goofy, nervous guy who loves his family, lives for holding babies, and is an awkward DM flirter? He's basically a grown-up Joseph Gordon-Levitt from 10 Things I Hate About You. And, oh man, we're in trouble.
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Image: ABC/Craig Sjodin