Arguably the most shocking elimination on Peter Weber's Bachelor season was that of Sydney Hightower. Peter and Sydney seemed to have a great connection — they had a conversation about a genuinely difficult topic and he called her the best kisser of the group — but she was sent home during episode 6. Now, Sydney is living the post-Bachelor life, but it hasn't been all sponsored Instagrams and racking up the followers for her. Instead, Sydney has had to confront some gossip about her high school years and the story about being bullied she told on the show.
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During her one-on-one date with Peter, Sydney opened up about being bullied for being biracial at her Alabama high school. She said this included being called racist names and having her home vandalized, and that she often ate lunch in the bathroom at school. (It wasn't brought up that Hannah Brown attended the same high school, which seems like it would have been a big point of connection for Sydney and Peter.)
Soon after the episode aired, someone who attended Sydney's school posted photos of her in the yearbook to Twitter in an apparent attempt to prove that her story was inaccurate. The Twitter user wrote, "'Ate lunch in the bathroom everyday of highschool' #bachelornation I’m selling my yearbooks for $200 a pop, who wants the tea," along with photos of Sydney in a beauty pageant and posing with another student.
In response, Sydney tweeted that she just because she won a beauty pageant that was voted on by judges and based on her appearance, that doesn't mean that she didn't also face racist bullying. "Any one from my highschool want to pull out the videos of girls stuffing my locker with Oreo cookies, vandalizing my home, shoving me in the hallways?" she wrote. "Teachers literally referring to me as a halfbreed? Calling my mother the worst names I’ve ever heard in my life? I doubt that."
Feels ridiculous I even have to address this.But correct I did win a beauty pageant my senior year of highschool.That was voted for by 5 judges.Not by my peers.Winning a pageant based off of outer beauty does not take away the racial bullying,and isolation I’ve been through.
— Sydney Hightower (@sydhightower) February 4, 2020
I was also on the cheer team in middle school and in many clubs in highschool. You’ll do anything you can to fit in, and I tried. I won pageants because of my “looks” and I was in clubs because I wanted a scholarship to get into college . Not because I was accepted by my peers.
— Sydney Hightower (@sydhightower) February 4, 2020
Any one from my highschool want to pull out the videos of girls stuffing my locker with Oreo cookies , vandalizing my home, shoving me in the hall ways? Teachers literally referring to me as a halfbreed? Calling my mother the worst names I’ve ever heard in my life? I doubt that.
— Sydney Hightower (@sydhightower) February 4, 2020
Sydney went on to post screenshots of a conversation that she had with the person who tweeted the yearbook photos that makes it clear that they did know each other. (The Twitter user posted the rest of their conversation, as well, adding that "I have so many people from school recalling you as a bully.") Sydney also tweeted screenshots of offensive comments she received from Bachelor viewers.
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There's a lot going on here and people will have their own opinions about Sydney based on what they saw on the show or even from knowing her in real life, but the biggest takeaway is that participating in activities and having friends doesn't have anything at all to do with someone being bullied or experiencing racism.
Luckily, her post-Bachelor experience hasn't just been about responding to viral Twitter posts about her high school experience; Sydney has also been spending time with some of her fellow contestants. She's posted Instagrams of herself with Kiarra Norman, who she calls her "best friend," and with Natasha Parker, Victoria Fuller, Victoria Paul, and Lexi Buchanan. She also reflected on her time on the show in another post.
"Even though I did not find love with sweet little Pete, I did find love for myself, and have learned so much in this process," Sydney wrote on Instagram. "I’m walking out of this with my head held high, with a new found [sic] appreciation for my strength, and with the most amazing new family, and group of best friends that I will have for the rest of my life."
She'll get to do some more reflecting — or maybe more like arguing — about her time on The Bachelor on the Women Tell All episode. Sydney isn't one to shy away from the drama or from standing up for herself, so she's sure to get some camera time, especially since Peter plans to confront her about apparently acting different with the other women than she did with him. Well, that sounds just as messy as this entire season has been.