Breakups
‘Bachelorette’ Rachel Lindsay Reveals What ‘Bothered’ Her Most About Bryan Abasolo Split
Rachel Lindsay is happy to say goodbye to her marriage to Bryan Abasolo. The Bachelorette Season 13 lead and her winner seemed to have a fairytale-like happily ever after — until they didn’t.
When the cracks began to show, fans were confused. Questions about what happened started to arise, and the former couple wasn’t ready to answer them just yet. Until now. With her divorce finalized, Lindsay was happy to provide her followers with some clarity.
On Friday, January 10, Rachel opened up on her podcast Higher Learning. The 39-year-old exuberantly exclaimed, “I’m divorced. Thank you, God.” She continued, “Give me some freedom music. Some freedom music.”
The reason for her joyful demeanor stemmed back to some exchanges that made the former couple clash. From “the beginning,” she had wanted to share what was going on but didn’t feel like it was the right time. “I haven’t talked, but I will, and I’m just figuring all that out,” she said. “There [are] so many things that I want to address.”
Not willing to reveal all just yet, Lindsay only said what bothered her the most.
“On his end, there were certain things that were said to play into certain stereotypes that really were hurtful or bothered me. … Saying things that particularly play into the stereotype of me being an angry Black female,” she said, claiming that “a narrative” was brought up in which she “placed a career” over the relationship and kids.
Lindsay then emphasized, “Those things are emphatically so not true.” She added, “To see people run with that because it’s the low-hanging fruit and it fits a certain stereotype, were really hurtful.”
The two tied the knot in 2019. Their divorce was finalized on January 7, a year after Abasolo filed citing irreconcilable differences. Happy to be no longer attached to her ex, Lindsay admitted to having “had to make concessions that I didn’t necessarily want to do.”
Court documents obtained by PEOPLE showed that Lindsay had to pay Abasolo over $400,000 in equalization payments.
Not talking about the case directly, the attorney did mention, “When someone is fighting you in this way and willing to die on every hill and not willing to compromise at all for whatever reason they have — and [I’ll] talk about that later,” she began. “You have to at one point let go and just be the bigger person and prioritize what is most important to you.”
She added, “My peace of mind is priceless at the end of the day, and I really want to start rebuilding, and I want to move forward. I’m able to do that now. And that feels really, really good.”
Talking to her co-host Van Lathan, she expressed that it’s “a very weird feeling” to actually be divorced. “From the moment he finally left the house, after being here for seven months post-separation, I felt divorced.”
