{"id":2075309,"date":"2025-10-07T17:31:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T17:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2075309"},"modified":"2025-10-07T17:31:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T17:31:31","slug":"the-bachelor-alum-melissa-rycroft-says-shes-struggling-after-dui-arrest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/the-bachelor-alum-melissa-rycroft-says-shes-struggling-after-dui-arrest\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Bachelor \u201dalum Melissa Rycroft says she&#8217;s &#8216;struggling&#8217; after DUI arrest"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Bachelor Nation&#8217;s Melissa Rycroft has spoken out following her recent arrest on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The reality TV personality responded to a supportive message left under one of her most <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DOPSpztjjUt\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:recent Instagram posts;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">recent Instagram posts<\/a> by a follower who alluded to the arrest, revealing that she was &#8220;struggling,&#8221; but nonetheless working to move forward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Life really sucks right now and I&#8217;m struggling, but I&#8217;m trying to march forward,&#8221; Rycroft said, thanking her follower for &#8220;the sweet words in what seems like a world of negativity.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Rycroft was booked last month in the Southlake area\u00a0of her native Texas on suspicion of driving while inebriated and released on $1,000 bond with a promise to appear in court.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<div style=\"max-height:none;overflow:visible\">\n<p>Jon Kopaloff\/FilmMagic<\/p>\n<p> Melissa Rycroft<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Southlake Police responded to the report of a single-vehicle crash on the afternoon of Sept. 23 and arrived to find that Rycroft&#8217;s black Cadillac Escalade had struck a tree. Prior to the crash, witnesses observed Rycroft &#8220;driving erratically,&#8221; a spokesperson for Southlake Police told <em>Entertainment Weekly.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Strickland was evaluated by officers on scene and failed a standardized sobriety test, the spokesperson added. No other vehicles were involved and no injuries were reported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Strickland&#8217;s attorney, Bret Martin, said that &#8220;every individual is presumed innocent until proven guilty&#8221; in a statement issued to EW last week. &#8220;We, as a society, have gotten completely away from this fundamental concept,&#8221; Martin said. &#8220;My client was arrested\u00a0on the allegation of driving while intoxicated. An arrest is no indication of guilt.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Melissa Rycroft responds to comment on Instagram\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"616\" height=\"480\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/SclWaO_72Dk1mkglTJH7YA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTc0ODtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/entertainment_weekly_785\/717c61f160bb942daf2e9b97539bc572\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p><i>Melissa Rycroft responds to comment on Instagram<\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong><em>Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with\u00a0our\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/ew-dispatch-newsletter-11812417\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:EW Dispatch newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">EW Dispatch newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We respectfully request that the media and the public allow the legal process to unfold and withhold any judgment whatsoever until all of the evidence has been properly analyzed and presented in a court of law,&#8221; Martin added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Rycroft made her Bachelor Nation debut on season 13 of\u00a0<em>The Bachelor\u00a0<\/em>in 2009, winning the heart of Jason Mesnick before he famously broke it off to pursue runner-up and his now-wife, Molly Malaney. A former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, Rycroft also appeared on CMT&#8217;s\u00a0<em>Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team. <\/em>She also twice competed on<em> Dancing With the Stars, <\/em>winning the all-star season 15.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the original article on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/the-bachelor-melissa-rycroft-breaks-silence-arrest-driving-while-intoxicated-11825682\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Entertainment Weekly;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Entertainment Weekly<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bachelor Nation&#8217;s Melissa Rycroft has spoken out following her recent arrest on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. The reality TV personality responded to a supportive message left under one of her most recent Instagram posts by a follower who alluded to the arrest, revealing that she was &#8220;struggling,&#8221; but nonetheless working to move forward. &#8220;Life [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2075310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25177],"tags":[305646,386528,353321,386288],"class_list":["post-2075309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrities","tag-bachelor-nation","tag-bret-martin","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-melissa-rycroft"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/The-Bachelor-alum-Melissa-Rycroft-says-shes-struggling-after-DUI.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2075309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2075309"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2075309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2075311,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2075309\/revisions\/2075311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2075310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2075309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2075309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2075309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}