Bachelorette Meredith Phillips, now 51, looks miserable and exhausted in mugshot for DUI arrest in South Carolina

BACHELORETTE Meredith Phillips, who was the second lead ever on the long-running reality show, was arrested for a DUI in South Carolina, The U.S. Sun can exclusively report.

In her mugshot, Bachelorette alum Meredith looks stoic with short, blond-streaked hair.

The U.S. Sun can exclusively report that Meredith, who is now 51, was arrested on suspicion of DUI on May 7, 2022 in Hartsville, South Carolina.

She was booked into the county jail, and bailed out the following day, records indicate.

It appears the charges were dismissed, as local courts no longer hold records of the case.

Meredith did not respond to The U.S. Sun's request for comment.

REALITY TV ICON

Meredith rose to fame as the second Bachelorette in 2004, after Trista Sutter kicked off the franchise the year prior. (First, Meredith appeared on Bob Guiney's season of The Bachelor in 2003.)

The then-makeup artist and model from Portland, Oregon ended the season engaged to Ian McKee, an equity research sales manager from New York City.

The couple split about a year after the finale.

Meredith then married her high school sweetheart, Michael Broady, in 2011, but The U.S. Sun can confirm through court records that the couple divorced in 2013.

She released a cookbook in 2008, and currently works as a chef in hospitals, she told the Almost Famous podcast in October 2024.

After living in Los Angeles following her time on the Bachelorette, she moved to South Carolina and is now back in her native Oregon.

PAINFUL STRUGGLE

In 2013, Meredith revealed she secretly struggled with alcoholism, and at one point, was drinking 20 bottles of wine a week.

"For years, I'd wake up every day feeling like I was hit by a truck," she told People magazine at the time.

"I realized I was going to kill myself. There wasn't another path for me other than to stop."

She said she spent two months in treatment, and by that June, had been sober for six months.

Five years later in 2018, Meredith resurfaced and made a shocking claim in an interview with Reality Steve on his podcast.

She said she was sexually assaulted by a female masseuse during production of The Bachelorette in late 2003.

Meredith alleged she was given a pill by the masseuse during her treatment.

“The last thing I remember was she got naked and she was in the tub with me, and rubbing my back and rubbing areas probably she shouldn’t have," she said.

"And then I was put in bed. I woke up naked. I don’t remember much.

“I remember everything until a certain point and when the pill kicked in I literally couldn’t even move my body, so I have no idea what the pill was at all.”

A spokesperson for The Bachelorette had no comment about the accusations at the time.

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.