As soon as ABC announced the 2018 contestants of The Bachelor, the franchise's fan base was quick to examine each and every one of the women who will be vying for the affections of Arie Luyendyk Jr. They come from all over the country, boasting different jobs, families, and walks of life. One of them in particular seems to already have a special someone waiting for them back home — The Bachelor's Chelsea is a single mom.
Chelsea Roy, who, according to her Bachelor bio is a 29-year-old real estate executive assistant from Maine, has a three-year-old son named Sam, according to Life & Style magazine. The child is heavily featured on Chelsea's Instagram feed, though it's not altogether clear who his father is. What is apparent, though, is the love Chelsea has for the child. She lovingly refers to him as "my dude" and captions photos of the two of them with things like, "Holding the world in my arms," "#NoBadDays," and "He is my everything." The love doesn't stop there, either. "I hope his dreams are full of wonder," she wrote alongside a photo of a sleeping Sam. "Things that make him want to explore, create and most importantly live. I can only hope to role model and teach him that anything is possible. Dreams do come true."
There are some traces of his father on Chelsea's social media — one of her photos from during her pregnancy in December 2013 shows her feet and another set of feet propped up on a table with the caption, "Feeling blessed as we anxiously await for our gift in July." According to the same Life & Style piece, some of Chelsea's old Instagram photos could suggest that she was previously either married or engaged — an aspect of her past that, if true, will likely be elaborated upon once she starts sharing parts of her personal life during her time on The Bachelor, though if she chooses to keep that part of her life private, that's obviously something people should respect.
She's certainly not the first single parent to appear on the dating franchise. Amanda Stanton of both The Bachelor and Bachelor In Paradise, had two children at home when she participated in the programs. Some criticized her for leaving the children at home while she filmed, but, according to Entertainment Tonight, she stood her ground against those trying to shame her. "I am fortunate enough to be able to work from home and spend more time with my kids than most parents," Stanton wrote on her blog, the outlet reported. "My kids are my entire world. I am doing my best to give them a great life." She also insisted that filming actually doesn't take as long as viewers may think. "As far as Bachelor in Paradise goes, it doesn’t film for very long at ALL," she wrote, according to ET. “I know it airs for 2 months … but it actually takes a lot less than that to film it. And alllllll the other days, weeks, months of the year, I am with [my kids]!" But, honestly, whatever time she spends with her kids is her business alone — and same with Chelsea.
Hopefully Chelsea doesn't face the same stigmas Stanton had to deal with — spending time away from her child is something that many parents do for a variety of reasons, and it certainly doesn't inherently mean anything negative about their parenting skills. And, from the looks of it, Chelsea's son is one incredibly happy (and adorable) child. She's apparently one to watch this season on The Bachelor, according to a press release from ABC which suggests that early on, she makes an impression. "Chelsea wastes no time luring Arie away once he enters the mansion, serving notice to the rest of the bachelorettes," the release says.
No matter what Chelsea's fate this season is, even if she doesn't come away with the final rose, it's nice to know she's still got a warm welcome waiting for her at home.
