The Bachelorette winner Devin Strader found himself at the center of a media storm after it was revealed that an anonymous ex-girlfriend served him with a restraining order in 2017, days after he burglarized her home.
Devin, 28, who won the heart of lead star Jenn Tran on the ABC dating show’s final season before brutally dumping her shortly after their engagement, was 21 when he was arrested for breaking into his ex-partner’s Louisiana home.
His ex-girlfriend reportedly filed a restraining order against him just three days later, alleging that he had spit on her and put her in a chokehold.
In legal documents filed on March 19, 2017, Devin’s ex-girlfriend claimed that her home had been broken into and that a diamond necklace he had given her was missing.
She also reported to the police that he “had arrived at her house banging on the door several times and shouting at her.”
The Bachelorette winner Devin Strader was reportedly served with a restraining order in 2017
The contestant brutally dumped lead star Jenn Tran after their engagement on the final season of the ABC dating show.
“Later that night, (Strader) lit a fire in the street with what appeared to be the actual restraining order,” the affidavit, viewed by Entertainment Weekly, continued.
‘She also had a flat tire on her vehicle and when they were changing it, (Strader) got out and started laughing at her.’
Devin reportedly pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful trespassing and criminal damage to property under $500 and received one year of unsupervised probation.
Meanwhile, the restraining order, which was filed on March 22, 2017, alleged that Devin “spit on me and threw his drink on me at the Pelicans game in front of everyone in the crowd” and “put me in a chokehold covering my mouth.”
Reports about Devin’s alleged criminal past have circulated widely on social media, which in turn has raised questions about The Bachelorette’s casting process and duty of care.
In a viral TikTok, user lovetoseeitpod called on producers to be more rigorous when conducting background checks on prospective contestants.
Speaking in the video, she said: ‘It’s something that we think really should have been disqualifying for Devin to be on the show.
‘I think we can all agree that the production company and the network need to be very careful about prioritizing the safety of their leads and not putting them in a position where they have to date someone whose background indicates that they might not be a safe person to pursue a serious relationship with.’
Devin reportedly burglarized his ex-girlfriend’s home and took a necklace he had once given her.
It has also been reported that he repeatedly violated the restraining order that was issued against him.
“It seems like laziness or negligence that they were not discovered earlier,” the user added about the court documents.
“We want people who participate in this program to feel safe and not be in a position to be around people who could harm them, physically or emotionally,” she concluded.
‘Do better casting, I think in the future you will have to be more detailed in your background checks because this is not right.’
A source close to production told Entertainment Weekly: ‘We take the safety of our contestants very seriously and do everything we can to conduct thorough due diligence.
‘Despite how thorough our investigative process is, this protection order did not appear in our searches.’
DailyMail.com has contacted ABC, Devin and Jenn for comment.
Devin brutally ended his relationship with Jenn shortly after the cameras stopped rolling.
Although Jenn and Devin left The Bachelorette in love, their relationship quickly soured after filming was halted and he broke off their engagement over the phone.
In an interview with People, she said: ‘I had no idea what was going to happen, and at the time I was just thinking about the things that were important to me.
“And what was important to me was the fact that he disrespected our entire relationship after the fact.”
She then criticized him for being so affectionate with her at first and for changing so quickly.
“Like I said, I can sit here and try to understand why anyone would change their mind after saying all those crazy, crazy proclamations of love,” she said.
“But to also sit there and disrespect the entire relationship by doing things that you know are going to hurt me and doing things that are just disrespectful to me, that’s the next level of crazy.”
She also said she was surprised he wasn’t more upset after she ended their engagement over the phone.
During The Bachelorette finale, Devin claimed he had “real” feelings for Jenn, but they faded away.
“It’s obvious that I failed you,” he said. “And there’s nothing more I can say. But everything I felt for you was real.”