The Bachelorette: Garrett Yrigoyen apologizes for 'offensive' social media history

Becca Kufrin’s season of The Bachelorette premiered earlier this week, and already one of the contestants has come under fire for his social media history. After the season premiered, screenshots surfaced that showed contestant Garrett Yrigoyen, a medical sales rep from Nevada, liking Instagram posts that, among other things, mocked undocumented immigrants, feminists, and the trans community.

Yrigoyen has now issued an apology, once again using Instagram. “I am sorry to those I offended, and I also take full responsibility for my ‘likes’ on Instagram that were hurtful and offensive,” he wrote, announcing that he’s taken down his former Instagram account in order to start fresh. “I have learned an extremely valuable lesson and am taking steps to grow, become more educated, and be a better version of myself,” he continued. “I am not perfect, and I will never be anywhere close, but now I will always be more informed and aware of what I am liking and supporting, not just on Instagram, but in life.”

Yrigoyen, who received the coveted first Impression rose during Monday’s premiere, added that he never meant any harm and said his likes “were not a true reflection of me and my morals.”

Earlier Thursday, Kufrin said on On With Mario Lopez that people shouldn’t be so quick to judge her suitors. “I think I have learned so much from this journey,” she said. “I met 28 guys who our ideals weren’t always the same. They have different interests. They have different hobbies, different things that they believe, and that’s what’s been so great about getting to know these guys, because everyone has different viewpoints and that’s what I loved about this journey.”

Read Yrigoyen’s full apology above.