TV & Movies

Hayden From The Bachelorette Is The Season’s New Villain

His rude rejection of Gabby is making waves.

by Kadin Burnett
Rachel Recchia and Hayden throwing paper airplanes on 'The Bachelorette'
Craig Sjodin/ABC

Bachelor Nation is currently basking in the glow of a new season. It’s only the early days, but Gabby and Rachel have already proved to be formidable leads. Despite sharing the spotlight, the Bachelorettes seem to work together happily to make sure they each find love, but drama is inevitable when it comes to reality shows. As teased in Entertainment Weekly’s sneak peek for Episode 3, The Bachelorette shows how dating gets trickier when the contestants must decide between pursuing either Gabby or Rachel. And it seems to be bringing out some of the guys’ worst sides, which means a question fans have had for weeks might finally get answered. We’re, of course, talking about the season’s first villain.

Enter Hayden Markowitz, the 29-year-old leisure executive from Tampa, Florida. Here’s what to know about Season 19’s potential new villain.

What Is Hayden’s Job?

Hayden is the CEO of 30A Rental Properties, a real estate company for luxury vacation rentals along Florida’s shorelines. The properties can run prospective renters anywhere from $250 to $500 per day. According to his LinkedIn, he has served as the president of 30A since 2013 while also working as a realtor. While he clearly has set his roots in the Sunshine State after graduating from the University of Central Florida, he’s originally from Savannah, Georgia.

What Is Hayden’s Instagram?

A cute blonde is the star of Hayden’s Instagram account. His dog, Rambo, has his own saved story right below Hayden’s bio, and in a recently posted photo of the two, Hayden wrote the caption, “My favorite partner in crime!” He added, “Rambo I love you more than anything in this world you are the biggest blessing to me! Love you with all my heart buddy!” It doesn’t seem all that hard to fall in love with his pup’s big brown eyes, so we can’t blame Hayden for plastering his four-legged friend across his feed.

Besides the Rambo love, Hayden also shared his appearance on Season 19 of The Bachelorette with back-to-back posts about the reality show. One post features Rachel and him making paper airplanes, and the other shows off his first meeting with the two Bachelorettes.

How Does Hayden Become A Bachelorette Villain?

Well, to answer this question, an excellent first step to becoming the season’s villain is to insult one of the leads. In a preview for Episode 3, which airs July 25, Hayden has the audacity to reject Gabby, calling her “rough around the edges.” It’s pretty hard to watch, especially because Gabby definitely takes the comment to heart. "Being called 'rough around the edges,' like, definitely hurts," she says, clearly upset. "It's just, like, validating all my fears."

But that’s just Hayden’s first alleged offense. According to reality television blogger Reality Steve, Hayden appears to go out of his way to break one of the cardinal rules of courtship, Bachelorette-related or not. The rumor is that Hayden claims that his ex-girlfriend is more attractive than both Gabby and Rachel. We can only hope Gabby and Rachel will address Hayden’s behavior before he gets further into the competition.