Ryan Sutter recognizes that he caused a stir on social media when he was posting about his absent wife Trista Sutter.
Last month, Ryan, 49, alarmed fans with his cryptic Instagram posts about missing Trista, 51, when she was off the grid for about two weeks. Trista eventually resurfaced and clarified that she was fine, although she didn’t reveal why she was MIA.
Ryan, who fell in love with Trista on the first season of “The Bachelorette” in 2003, appeared on former host Chris Harrison’s podcast on June 17 and addressed his motivations for posting the bizarre messages.
Ryan and Trista Sutter Getty Images for Sandals Resorts
“The intent is not to be like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna throw this out here and make people wonder if my wife’s alive,’ ” he said on “Most Dramatic Podcast Ever.” “You know, that’s not what I’m going after here.”
Ryan continued: “I’ll go months without a post, and then suddenly I’ll get, like, in a mood, and I’ll send something. And this was a particular thing that Trista was doing, and it was the end of the school year. It’s been kind of a long year for us, moving and lots of things going on.”
“So, whatever the culmination of all that happened, and I was in that sort of place, so I sent that out.”
Ryan and Trista Sutter Getty Images for Sandals Resorts
Between May 12 and May 25, Ryan shared a series of alarming Instagram posts while his wife was absent.
“I really wish I could talk to you,” Ryan wrote on Mother’s Day. “I want to know how you’re doing. I want to support and encourage and cheer you on. I want to be there for you. But I can’t.”
Ryan Sutter’s message about missing Trista. ryansutter/Instagram
Ryan Sutter posting about Trista Sutter when she was MIA. ryansutter/Instagram
When Trista returned to social media during Memorial Day Weekend, she joked about having “a nervous breakdown” and defended her husband for posting what he did.
“He doesn’t owe anyone any explanation or require permission to post what he wants to post and share what he wants to share. If you want to know the rest of the story, I will share in due time,” Trista said.
Ryan and Trista Sutter with their two kids ryansutter/Instagram
On Harrison’s podcast, Ryan clarified that he wanted to express how much he missed his wife on his social media when she was gone.
“Honestly, the intent was Trista wasn’t gonna be able to have access to social media until she got finished with this experience she was on,” the firefighter said. “So I was gonna post these things knowing, like, the second she had access to it, she would look at it, and she could see, like, ‘Here’s what happened while you were gone. Here’s how much we missed you.’ “
“And then it just blew up in my face and backfired,” Ryan added. “It was nuts.”
Ryan and Trista have yet to confirm why the mother of two was away from her family.
Ryan and Trista Sutter attend “The Golden Wedding” in January 2024. ABC via Getty Images
TMZ reported this month that Trista was filming Season 3 of the Fox competition reality series “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.”
The series sees a group of celebrities go overseas and participate in grueling challenges — taken straight from the US military’s playbook that aids in its Special Forces selection process.
Trista’s fellow “Bachelorette” alum Ali Fedotowsky is also on the upcoming season, per TMZ.
