And she’s found!
“The Bachelorette” star Trista Sutter is breaking her silence after her husband, Ryan Sutter, raised eyebrows with some bizarre posts amid her absence.
“Geez people. Can’t a girl have a nervous breakdown/trial separation/midlife crisis/death/divorce in peace around here?!” Trista, 51, captioned a family photo via Instagram over the weekend.
“In all seriousness, for those concerned, I’m safe and sound, happy and healthy, in love and grateful. For those who’d rather focus on being critical and searching way too hard for darkness, good luck with that,” she went on. “An opportunity for perspective and personal growth presented itself and with the unconditional support of my family and friends, I chose myself and betterment, knowing that my stay-at-home-mom job and my kids end-of-the-school-year needs were in the best, most capable hands.”
Trista, who last posted on May 12, called her longtime love “stoic” who “usually chooses privacy over posting,” but he decided to “share his love” about her in messages that would find her as she traveled.
“We look at Instagram like a digital diary. Most of the time, the world doesn’t pay too much attention,” she explained. “To me, they gave me exactly what my Words of Affirmation love language needed to get me through some serious self doubt and fear…and that’s all that matters.”
The “Bachelorette” Season 1 lead added: “He doesn’t owe anyone any explanation or require permission to post what he wants to post and share what he wants to share. If you want to know the rest of the story, I will share in due time. For now, it’s back to our regularly scheduled programming – from a beach in Mexico! After all, nervous breakdowns and separations require much needed rest and relaxation!”
Earlier this month, Ryan revealed on Mother’s Day that Trista was off the grid and revealed he was missing her with no further context.
“I really wish I could talk to you,” he wrote at the time, later adding, “I want to know how you’re doing. I want to support and encourage and cheer you on. I want to be there for you. But I can’t.”
Fans speculated that Trista was filming a reality show, like “The Traitors” or “Special Forces,” which would have explained her absence.
Days later, the firefighter, 49, tried to explain his cryptic posts and addressed speculation that his longtime love had died.
“21 years ago I was pretty famous. I don’t have millions of followers and am not influencing anyone but for some reason, every now and then, people still pay attention,” he wrote on May 22. “Apparently that has recently been the case?”
“I strayed from the safety of the usual dog theme and chose to post a message to my wife for a time when she could eventually read it. She understood the context and so did I. No one else did however, and that’s where things went sideways,” he continued. “It was suggested that Trista had died, we were in trouble or that it must be a midlife crisis among many other creative ideas. Some thought I was intentionally misleading people in order to somehow benefit from it? It got picked up on entertainment news sites and I started getting texts from friends asking if I was ok. All because I missed my wife and chose to share how that felt. It felt weird to wear the clothes of past fame once again, even if only briefly. It reminded me of how crazy life was and of how grateful I am for the life I have.”
Trista and Ryan tied the knot in 2003 after meeting on the ABC franchise and are parents of Maxwell, 16, and Blakesley, 15.