Becca Kufrin is blessing the Bachelor in Paradise beach with her presence. But this isn't some Bachelorette hit and run where she offers some sage wisdom and then rides off into the extremely hot sunset. Becca will be a contestant on Bachelor in Paradise when she arrives... but why? A former Bachelorette or Bachelor has never downgraded to Paradise after being the lead. But after Becca's split from fiancé Garrett, this Bachelorette seems down for anything.
Becca first came to Bachelor Nation as the winner — and then, loser — of Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s season. Arie breaking up with Becca after proposing to her to be with Lauren Burnham led Becca to become the Bachelorette where she and Garrett Yrigoyen did the "damn thang" and became engaged.
Following her engagement, Becca went on Bachelor in Paradise Season 5 to give that aforementioned sage wisdom to the women and to help Colton move on from her to be with Tia Booth (but really to sow the seeds for Colton to become the next Bachelor).
Now, Becca is on Paradise to find love for herself. Here's what happened with her and Garrett that led her to come to Mexico following her Bachelorette engagement in 2018.
The Early Instagram Controversy
Before Becca's ending aired, Garrett already had a controversy. As The Hollywood Reporter documented, Garrett had liked multiple offensive posts on Instagram with conservative leanings. On the other side of the political spectrum, Becca is more liberal, having posted herself participating in the Women's March, supporting Joe Biden, and flipping off a Donald Trump and Mike Pence sign before she was on Arie's season of The Bachelor. Garrett apologized for the likes when Becca's Bachelorette season began airing.
After their engagement became public on Aug. 6, 2018, the couple addressed the situation on After the Final Rose. "I don't condone that and I know that he stands by his apology and he feels so bad for everyone that he did offend," Becca said. "He didn't mean it. But I just want to move forward, to learn and to grow and continue to educate ourselves."
Moving In Together
Becca moved from Minn. to Calif., to be closer to Garrett in January 2019, ET reported. As of May 2019, Becca and Garrett moved into an apartment together in Carlsbad, Calif., with People sharing photos of the space.
Adopting A Dog
Is there anything that proves a couple's devotion more than getting a dog together? In August 2019, Becca and Garrett adopted a corgi puppy. As Becca explained on Instagram, they named her Minno — for her home state of Minn., and his hometown of Reno. Minno has her own Instagram account that Becca currently manages, so the corgi-lover (seriously, her love of corgis is in her Instagram bio) got custody of the couple's pup.
Continuing Differing Views
During the racial unrest following the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020, Becca supported racial justice (though she didn't use the words "Black Lives Matter") in a couple of Instagram posts, including a #blackouttuesday post. Meanwhile, Garrett posted in support of police with a thin blue line post (though he didn't use the words "Blue Lives Matter). Becca's Bachelor Happy Hour co-host Rachel Lindsay brought up Garrett's post on the podcast. "Garrett is my fiancé and I love him and, to his core, I believe that he is a good person," Becca said. "I don't align with and I don't agree with [his post]." She shared her conflicted feelings in the above Instagram post as well.
On the following week's Happy Hour podcast, Becca pledged to continue to educate herself on systemic racism and stated, "For those who are curious about my relationship with Garrett at this point, all I can say right now is that I don't know."
Unofficial Breakup Reports
E! News reported on Aug. 6, 2020, that a source exclusively told the outlet that Becca and Garrett had split. The source said they were living apart and that "Becca is still very upset with Garrett's comments and the controversy surrounding it." Garrett certainly didn't help squash the breakup rumors when he deleted his Becca-themed Instagram Stories Highlight around that time. But Cosmopolitan reported that Becca called out the unvalidated report in the comments of E! News' Instagram.
No Ring On It
Although Becca was seen wearing her engagement ring in a post from Aug. 13, 2020, just three days later, she posted the above shot of where she notably was not wearing the ring. That, plus the fact that they had been spending weeks apart during COVID-19, led to breakup rumors.
Official Breakup Announcement
During the Sept. 1, 2020 episode of the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast, Becca confirmed their breakup. "I don't think it's going to come as a shock to anyone, but Garrett and I have decided to end our engagement," Becca said tearfully, despite thinking that they had a "future that would be set in stone."
"It wasn't something that we just arrived at one night. It wasn't based solely off of one Instagram post or somebody else's opinions or comments," Becca said. "We've realized that we still have so much love and kindness and compassion in our hearts for the other person, but sometimes people's paths just go different ways." She also posted about the breakup on Instagram and two days later, she announced she was living in Los Angeles.
Since then, Garrett has purged Becca from his Instagram and has been in a relationship with yoga instructor Alex Farrar since October 2020. In July 2021, Farrar posted that she was moving to Garrett's hometown of Reno. He posted on July 24, "You moving here has been the best decision by far this year."
With such displays of affection on her ex's social media, why shouldn't Becca publicly find herself a new man on Paradise? But, as the trailer makes it seem that Becca and the red-flag-waving Thomas are going to be a couple, Becca's third shot at Bachelor love could end in heartbreak again.
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Image: Paul Herbet/ABC