Over 20 years after she became ABC’s first Bachelorette, Trista Sutter has spoken about what led her to give her final rose to her now-husband, Ryan Sutter, rather than the runner-up, Charlie Maher.
Trista, whose inaugural season as The Bachelorette in 2003 came after she was the runner-up on the first season of The Bachelor in 2002, is now celebrating her 23rd wedding anniversary with Ryan, and their children, Max, 18, and Blakesley, 16.
In a joint interview with People, Trista listed the reasons that cemented her decision to choose Ryan in the finale episode.
“He wrote me poetry. He was a professional athlete, and I love athleticism. His eyes. He made me laugh. He made me feel safe,” Trista said about Ryan. “It just felt right. We had so much chemistry, and I could see him fitting into my life and him fitting into mine and us creating a life of our own together.”
Ryan explained that he felt the same way about her. “I always said I'd marry her [the day she chose me],” he told People. “I didn’t have any doubts.”
He also spoke about what it was like for him to be on The Bachelorette and to have their relationship available for the world to watch on television.
“It was like going to the moon,” Ryan said. “You’re on the moon, and everyone is looking at you. And then you go back down to earth, which is where we are now. But you still went to the moon! And it’s this cool little part of your history. We meet people who have really fond memories of it or say, ‘Your story gave me hope.’”
The Bachelorette (a spin-off of The Bachelor) follows one woman who dates a group of roughly 25 to 30 men over the course of a season. Each week, she eliminates contestants during rose ceremonies until just two remain, with the finale typically culminating in a proposal.
The couple’s interview comes just days before the new season of The Bachelorette is scheduled to premiere, featuring The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Taylor Frankie Paul as the lead, marking the first time a lead was not picked from prior Bachelor contestants.
However, the upcoming season has been overshadowed by reports that filming for SLOMW has been paused amid a police investigation into an alleged dispute between Paul and her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen.
“Honestly, it’s been a heavy time to see the headlines, especially during the time of The Bachelorette being released,” Paul said on Wednesday’s episode of Good Morning America.
“It’s supposed to be an exciting time. I’m a person that always speaks her truth, that’s what I’m known for,” she said. “When the time is right, I will be.”
