A contestant from the scrapped season of “The Bachelorette” is opening up about a childhood accident that left him with hearing loss—and it involves one of Bachelor Nation’s most recognizable symbols.
During a recent appearance on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast—hosted by former Bachelorettes Charity Lawson and Rachel Recchia, Richard Van De Water, a 35-year-old photographer from Charleston, South Carolina, shared the story behind his partial deafness and how it later impacted his time on the show.
Bachelor Happy Hour has pivoted from a weekly recap show of “The Bachelorette” to an opportunity to hear from the men of Taylor Frankie Paul’s canceled season. Season 22 of “The Bachelorette” was nixed just days before it was set to air on ABC due to a leaked video of a physical altercation between Paul and her ex boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen.
Richard Recalls Childhood Rose Accident That Led to Hearing Loss
ABCVan De Water said the incident happened when he was 14 years old.
“[My friends] were handing out fake roses,” Van De Water recalled, noting the irony years later. “One of my friends was kind of poking around my ear with it. … I flinched and it just went all the way down inside.”
He described the moment as overwhelming.
“It was really hard because immediately I fell to the ground,” he said, adding that his “body went into shock and I couldn’t hear anything.”
Van De Water said his mom saw the incident happen in real time, calling it “traumatic” for her.
The then-teenager was taken to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery. After the procedure, doctors told Van De Water’s parents that he would not regain hearing in that ear.
“They said, ‘He’s not going to hear in that ear ever again for the rest of his life,'” Van De Water recalled the doctors saying.
In addition to hearing loss, Van De Water said he learned he would have trouble walking and could never play sports again—although these predictions didn’t fully materialize. He later played football in high school, but the hearing loss remained.
“It’s definitely a large part of my life and how it’s affected me,” he said.
How Hearing Loss Impacted Richard’s ‘Bachelorette’ Experience
Nearly two decades later, Van De Water said his hearing loss affected how he navigated “The Bachelorette” environment, especially in group settings.
“It was OK at times,” he said on the podcast. “Other times when we’re inside and sound is bouncing off the walls, it could be really hard.”
Van De Water described difficulty keeping up with conversations when multiple people were talking.
“I might get a gist of an idea, but I’ll miss out on an inside joke or I’ll miss out on a specific detail,” he said.
In some cases, Van De Water said he had to physically adjust himself in real time to be able to listen better.
“I was on the couch talking with [someone] … they were sitting on my left side and then I, about halfway through the conversation, I was like, ‘I’m so sorry to do this. Can we switch sides?'” he recalled.
Van De Water said his experience navigating hearing loss on “The Bachelorette” shaped how he approaches communication and self-advocacy.
“It’s definitely shaped me more into who I am and given me more confidence in myself,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s something that I’m now trying to just be more vocal about because I realize that there is a massive community of people that struggle with that and struggle with all of the things that come with hearing loss and insecurity.”
