Yahoo Lifestyle ‘The Bachelor’s Grant Ellis Opens Up About His Tragic Family Loss (Exclusive)
The Bachelor fans got to meet Grant Ellis’ family tonight on episode one of the hit ABC reality show. But sadly, one of the most special people in his life passed away after filming. And Grant told Parade his feelings about the devastating loss.
In the Monday premiere’s first scenes, Grant was shown interacting lovingly with his family, including his mom Renee, dad Robert, sister Taylor, and grandmother Corine. However, at the end of the show, fans learned via an intertitle tribute that Corine had passed away last year. According to a Legacy.com post, she had been just a few weeks from her 83rd birthday. The Bachelor paid tribute to Grant’s beloved grandma, “Corine Frank Russell, 1941-2024.”
Grant had given his first impression rose to Corine in a touching moment during episode one.
“It’s my job as The Bachelor to give out roses. And this is the first rose I’m ever going to give out. And this just signifies how much I love you as my grandma,” he told Corine on camera. “You’ll always be my first impression rose, grandma. I love you.”
A moved Corine replied, “I love you, too.” Grant would later gave another first impression rose to contestant Alexe on the show.
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The day trader, 31, had exclusively told Parade about the late Corine in an interview before the season debuted.
"My grandmother was really important to my family," he said. "And [her passing is] very unfortunate. But that's the process of life. And you know something? She taught me things that are always going to stick with me. And one day, I'm not going to be around, and hopefully, I'm going to have a kid who will look back and say, 'My dad taught me things.' And that's what's going to live on."
Viewers also saw Grant introduce his parents. When the former basketball player was a contestant on Jenn Tran’s The Bachelorette, he bravely talked about his father’s addiction issues. During an August 2024 episode, Grant told Jenn, “Addiction is a hard thing because, you know, growing up, my pops was everything. He was my superhero. He used to take me to the park, and he always used to be inebriated or intoxicated under the substance. The worst thing is, I didn’t know.”
He added, “When you’re a child, you believe everything. And the one person I trusted most was always lying. So that was something. In my eyes, I’m like, ‘You’re a man. Why can’t you do what you have to do?’”
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Grant opened up more as The Bachelor lead, telling cameras, “My parents were married for 30 years, and they divorced when I was in college. It was tough.”
He also said in confessional, “When I was younger, my parents would argue a lot…my mother put her head down and worked…my parents, we didn’t even eat dinner together.”
Still, Grant noted, “I’ve learned from their relationship a lot. I love my dad very much. He’s recovering from a 30-year struggle with addiction. And for him to get over that hump, it means a lot to me. But ultimately, it’s for him. My father and I are entering new chapters in our life at the same time—his sobriety, my journey on finding love.”
Robert cheered on his son as he embarked on his Bachelor path. And Grant elaborated to Parade, "Our relationship is strong; it's always been. But I think that our trust was lacking a little bit. And us rekindling on the show and reconnecting on the show really helped him in his journey with sobriety. It gave him a reason to continue to fight, because it's a fight. So, yeah, our relationship is great. And we communicate. That's my man for life."
Grant also said his mother Renee, who had actually signed him up for The Bachelorette, is thrilled that he’s The Bachelor and it’s drawn her to social media.
"My mom is–it's going to sound weird. But she's living through me, I guess vicariously,” Grant smiled to Parade. "She's really happy. She's really excited about her journey with social media. She's trying to learn how to use it. She calls me three times a day on trying to how to post something on her page, so she's learning new things. Me and my mom's relationship is really strong."
