Erich Schwer is back in the water.
The reality star – who is a finalist vying for Gabby Windey’s heart in this season of “The Bachelorette” – is said to have joined the show to advance his career, new text messages leaked by his ex-girlfriend reveal. girlfriend, Amanda Kaylor.
On Wednesday, Instagram account @Bachelornation.scoop shared screenshots of alleged messages between Schwer and Kaylor from March 2022, just before the 29-year-old left to film the reality show.
“I know this isn’t ideal, I wanted to do this to see if I could do something else with my life. I really like you, Amanda,” Schwer texted Kaylor, whom he’d met at Hinge two months earlier.
“I didn’t think it would be bad, but I understand how you feel. I’m sorry and I understand if you don’t want to see me again.”
A conflicted Kaylor reportedly responded to the reality star, saying, “You just expected me to keep dating you while you go on a reality show to ‘find love?'”
Schwer is said to have replied, ‘It’s not real, but you’re right. I’m sorry I really didn’t think this through.”
Schwer then apologized to his then-girlfriend, saying he “didn’t realize the implications” of his decision and that he wasn’t trying to hurt her. The broker said he made the decision to “find out” who he is, adding that he needed a “change” while feeling “stuck” in his career path.
Less than two weeks after Schwer reportedly dropped the bomb, he sent her a bouquet of flowers — ironically roses — before leaving for the show in the hopes that Kaylor would “smile.”
The pair broke off contact until the show premiered in July, two months after filming wrapped up.
Schwer is said to have reconnected with his ex-girlfriend and reiterated how sorry he was before revealing that he still thinks about her ‘all the time’.
However, Kaylor was less than impressed with the apology, seeing it as a way to “save himself from anything that would hurt his newfound fame and reputation.”
After sharing the screenshot, Kaylor claims she wanted to “shine a light on his true character” ahead of the “Bachelorette” finale and “After the Final Rose” special.
Schwer has yet to publicly denounce the latest allegations, and representatives for the reality star and ABC did not immediately respond to Vidak For Congress’s request for comment.
Just last week, Schwer spoke out after a photo from his high school yearbook resurfaced showing him in blackface.
“I sincerely apologize for the insensitive photo of me in Blackface from my high school textbook circulating. What I thought at the time was a representation of my love for Jimi Hendrix was nothing but ignorance,” he wrote on Instagram about the photo of him in an Afro wig and a colorful shirt with dark face paint on it.
The season finale of “The Bachelorette” airs Tuesday, September 20 on ABC.