CORRECTION: NBC News incorrectly reported a Variety story stating former “Bachelorette contestant Josh Seiter died. The article cited a now deleted Aug. 28 Instagram posting shared to his account. The headline and article have been updated with Seiter’s August 29 Instagram post, in which he states that he is still alive and claims his account was hacked.
Josh Seiter, former contestant of ABC’s “The Bachelorette,” uploaded a video on Tuesday saying that reports about his death were caused by a hacker gaining access to his Instagram account.
After he claimed to have spent the day trying to gain access to his social media, Seiter said that he is “alive” and well. He said that he is working with his team to track down the hacker.
Seiter stated, “Someone was making a cruel joke mocking my mental health and the struggles that I have gone through with depression. “And I apologize for the pain that they caused by making that post.” “I just got into my account.”
On Monday, a statement purporting be from Seiter’s family announced his “unexpected death” on his Instagram. In the statement, he was described as an “incredibly brilliant light in a dimming world.”
The statement went on to say that “although our sadness at Joshua’s death is beyond words, we take comfort in the knowledge that he has finally found peace.” We hope and pray his spirit will continue to live on through the words and pictures on this page.
In 2015, Seiter competed in Kaitlyn’s “The Bachelorette”. He was eliminated after the first week.
The purported family statement did not reveal his cause of his death but implied that there was a crisis in mental health by providing information about the 988 SMS crisis suicide hotline.
Seiter shared a picture of himself with the caption “Surviving Depression and Anxiety One Day at a Time with a Smile” on Instagram last week. A photo at the top his feed that was originally posted in July of 2021 also has a caption that describes him as a “suicide try survivor.”
You can reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
