Clint Arlis, ‘Bachelorette’ Season 11 Contestant, Dies at 34

Clint Arlis, a “The Bachelorette” contestant from Season 11 who competed for the affections of Kaitlyn Bristowe, died on Tuesday, his sister shared to Facebook on Thursday. He was 34.

“It is with great sadness, to tell you that my family has lost my best friend and older brother Clint on the morning of January 11th,” Taylor Lulek wrote in her post. Please respect our family’s privacy as we try to cope with this great loss. Details on the service will follow. Thank You.”

No cause of death was given.

Arlis’s former wrestling coach at Batavia High School in Batavia, Illinois, Scott Bayer, first announced the news on Twitter on Wednesday, writing, “It is with a heavy heart and a sense of profound loss that we announce the death of one of the Batavia Wrestling Program’s All-Time greats, 2005 graduate, Clint Arlis.”

Bayer added, “I have found him to be extraordinarily devoted to his family and deeply committed to the sport wrestling at a level few of us have ever reach[ed] in our careers… His legacies as a fierce competitor, tireless worker, a caring influence to younger Batavia wrestlers, a devoted friend and a loving son and brother will resonate far beyond his days in our presence.”

Arlis was also remembered by Batavia Wrestling, who wrote, “His legacies as a fierce competitor, tireless worker, a caring influence to younger Batavia wrestlers, a devoted friend, and a loving son and brother will resonate far beyond his days in our presence.”

Bristowe, who is now a co-host on “The Bachelorette,” shared her reaction to the news in an Instagram Story video on Thursday night.

“This is an Instagram story I did not think I’d be doing tonight but Clint, who was on my season of ‘The Bachelorette,’… tragically passed at 34 years old. I’m not sure what happened, how it happened,” she said in the video, according to People.

Arlis was eliminated in the third week of the season and Bristowe referenced his less than smooth exit in her video. “All I want to say is from knowing him on the show, even though, you know, things didn’t end on the best terms for us, from his time on the show to today, I have heard nothing but incredible things about that person,” she said. “From his peers, his students, his coaches, his teachers, his friends, his family. Clint was very well respected in his world, and it is an absolute tragedy of what’s happened.”

Season 11 runner-up Nick Viall also paid tribute to Arlis on Twitter. “Just heard about the passing of Clint Arlis. I got a chance to get know Clint a little after our time on Kaitlyn’s season and I always enjoy [our] time and conversations,” he wrote. “A very kind, unique and talented person who was taken from this world far too soon. RIP Clint.”

ABC did not immediately respond to TheWrap about his passing.

Us Weekly first reported the news.