Greg Grippo in "The Bachelorette": What We Know

[You've probably heard a lot about Bachelorette contestant Greg Grippo. Immediately, on the first night of the show's 17th season, Grippo made new Bachelorette Katie Thurston (opens in new tab) and viewers *swoon* and gave her a pasta noodle necklace made by one of his nieces. Romantic. Romantic. This adorable move earned Thurston (opens in new tab) the coveted first impression rose of the sweet contestant. Normally I would have thought, "Well done, Greg," but the gesture from him actually seemed sweet and sincere, not conniving or trying too hard, just the right amount of sweetness.

From there, Grippo remained the front-runner, and Thurston seemed very intent on making sure he felt that their relationship was rock solid. He also maintained his wholesome demeanor perfectly. (Remember when he hugged Cat Guy? We love bromance.) He was vulnerable on dates (he got one-on-one twice. This is a testament to Thurston's obvious feelings for him.) ), fun within the group, and in an otherwise drama-filled season, there was relatively ~little~ drama.

But then. In the show's final episode, Greg fell apart. He turned on Katie in what Katie and many fans described as gaslighting (open in new tab) and immediately dropped the show, leaving Katie devastated and in shock. She sobbed, "I honestly never thought this would happen, I just want to go home." Greg lost many fans with his actions, dividing Bachelor Nation - some said he was just really upset (opens in new tab), while others called his actions derogatory (opens in new tab).

Here is everything we know about Grippo.

According to his ABC biography (opens in new tab), Greg is from Edison, New Jersey. He transferred from Edison High School to Rutgers Prep.

Light internet stalking revealed that Grippo is a college athlete who often posts about his teammates on Instagram. Academically, she majored in business and minored in gender studies.

When we first met Grippo, he told Katie that he loved being with his many nieces and nephews and was super close to his family. On Grippo's first one-on-one date with Thurston, he opened up about his father's death. (He has a brother named Joe and a sister named Samantha.

I don't know what really happened, but look at this Instagram photo:

Seems like a sure bet to me.

Grippo is currently an account manager at Mondo, a national marketing staffing firm. Prior to his current job, he worked in marketing for Melaleuca, a health and wellness company.

His ABC bio divulges how he cries during movies and hates slow drivers, but more importantly is looking for real love with someone he can travel the world with.

In July, Reality Steve (open in new tab) shared that Greg was one of 15 people who did not make it to Claire Crowley's season.

According to unverified sources cited by The Sun, (opens in new tab) Grippo deleted posts from his social media accounts before appearing on the show, including removing evidence that he attended acting school William Esper between 2017 and 2019. A source told The Sun: "Greg thought he could fool viewers quickly by not admitting he was a trained actor and pretending to be a marketer somewhere." The source continued: "I don't think he's on the show out of the purest of intentions: ...... It just doesn't add up."

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with being an actor. But it seems a bit fishy that he is allegedly trying to hide it. Aspiring to be an actor is like the kiss of death in Bachelor/Bachelorette.

Grippo's healthy sexiness has captivated not only Thurston but also Twitter. The Bachelor nation was thrilled when Thurston gave Grippo a first impression rose and swooned over their first one-on-one date in Episode 2. Since then, Twitter has been abuzz every time he makes an appearance. Here are some of the joyful reactions:

Many in Bachelor Nation weighed in on what happened with Greg. Bekah Martinez from Allie's season wrote on social media: "I know he opened up to her and she said the "wrong thing" but to shut her down emotionally and punish her with silence by saying "nothing, why do you think that?" is emotional manipulation 101.

Caitlin Bristow, who was seen on screen comforting Katie after Greg's meltdown, said on the podcast Click Bait: "He just wanted to quit before he got fired. I think his ego was so bruised at that moment that he was like, 'I'm going to turn this shit around and get out of here.'"

As for the other players in Grippo's season, Andrew Spencer wrote on Twitter: "The most important thing is that they want things to run smoothly ...... They are very good human beings with whom I have shared many great moments." John Hershey wrote on Instagram: "I think it is very unhealthy and a step in the wrong direction to see this kind of behavior being defended (i.e. normalized). And Conor Brennan wrote: "There was no gaslighting in this episode.

Taysia Adams promised that Gregg's acting background would be covered, ABC promised a "tense showdown" between the two in a press release, and confirmed that Gregg would return on ATFR.

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