Bachelorette’s Josh Seiter’s death hoax attributed to social media hack

Former The Bachelorette contestant Josh Seiter’s family reported his death at only 36 years old, but he has since claimed his Instagram was hacked.

Seiter appeared as a contestant on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s season of The Bachelorette in 2015. He was eliminated during the first week and had spoken out about his time on the show.

Seiter came out as bisexual earlier in 2023 and has been open about his mental health struggles. He had been previously diagnosed with OCD, Bipolar Depression, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

Seiter’s family announced that he had died at the young age of 36 years old, days after posting about his daily life with depression and anxiety. However, Seiter has debunked those claims in a new Instagram video, attributing the announcement to a hacker playing a “cruel joke.”

Bachelorette’s Seiter is actually alive

Seiter’s family confirmed his death in a statement on his Instagram on August 28. While they don’t reveal his cause of death, the post encouraged those struggling with mental health to reach out to resources for help.

“His fearless voice and indomitable spirit helped thousands of people in their darkest moments feel just a little less alone,” the statement read.

“We hope and pray that his spirit can continue to live on in the pictures and words on this page, which we will leave up for the time being. While we do that, we would kindly ask for privacy as we grieve.”

Shockingly, Seiter has now revealed that it wasn’t his family that posted the announcement – someone hacked him.

“Hey, guys. As you can see, I am alive and well. My account was hacked,” he said in a video. “For the last 24 hours, I’ve been trying desperately to get into it. Somebody was playing a cruel joke and mocking my mental illness and the struggles I’ve gone through with depression and suicide attempts.”

“I’m sorry for all the pain they caused when they made that post,” he continued.” “I just got back into my account. I am going to do all I can with my team to try to identify who was behind this but again, I apologize for the confusion. And I will update you guys as more facts come in. Thank you, guys.”