‘The Bachelorette’: Andi Dorfman contestant Eric Hill dies after paragliding accident

“The Bachelorette” has long been a silly series about finding love and getting millions of viewers hooked on the journey, and the story that we are posting now may very well change everything from the upcoming season featuring Andi Dorfman.

A contestant on Andi’s season named Eric Hill has died according to his sister Karen Tracy on Facebook this week following a paragliding accident in the state. He was at first listed in critical condition, but he eventually succumbed to his injuries. “The Bachelorette” is still in production, but frequent show spoiler Reality Steve confirmed that he was eliminated from the show before this happened, and the accident had nothing to do with production. (We traditionally do not spoil anything on CarterMatt when it comes to outcome, but these are extenuating circumstances.)

Production itself even did a rare thing today in acknowledging a contestant appearing on the show before the full cast release. They shared the following statement online:

“We are deeply saddened to hear about the tragic passing of our friend, Eric Hill. Eric inspired us every day with his passion, his courage and his adventurous spirit, and for that we are very thankful. On behalf of our cast, crew and producers, we send our love, our thoughts and our prayers to Eric’s family during this difficult time.”

Thoughts are with Eric’s friends and family through this terrible situation, and while we know little about this man, everything on paper suggests that he is a guy who loved life and taking risks. As a part of a documentary, he has tried to visit every country in the world recognized by the United Nations.

It is obviously a difficult segue to think about a show like “The Bachelorette” when there are issues of life and death at stake, but we will in future pieces try to decipher how ABC is going to handle this difficult situation. There is a precedent for reality TV contestants passing either before or during its airing, and reactions range from a title card to an outright decision to not air the series. In the case of “The Bachelorette,” we cannot see the latter happening.

Once again, thoughts are with all who knew Hill.

Photo: ABC