Featured Image Credit: ABC
Topics: Reality TV, The Bachelor
Ilana Frost
I have been a Kelsey Toussant stan since the beginning of this season of The Bachelor. Do I think the gorge, classy realtor and clothing store owner is potentially out of Joey Graziadei’s league? Ummm. Well, let’s just recall that he interpreted her painting of a half heart as an elephant… plus there was the whole Ruth Bader Ginsburg/Gypsy Rose Blanchard mix-up. But hey, if Kelsey thinks Joey is The One, I fully support her on this journey to the very last rose.
In episode 6, we saw Kelsey getting super real with Joey during their one-on-one in Montreal. She opened up to the tennis pro about her strained relationship with her father due to his religious beliefs. During their conversation, Kelsey didn’t give details about the specific religion, but she has spoken about the subject in a past interview. So, what was Kelsey’s former religion, and why did she choose to leave? Apparently, her father belongs to a particularly strict Christian denomination.
Back in 2019, Kelsey explained her complicated journey with religion during an interview with Voyage LA magazine. She remembered that joining a theater class in high school changed everything for her. “That’s when I realized I wanted to pursue creativity for the rest of my life,” Kelsey told the outlet. “At the same time, I was a full-blown Jehovah’s Witness and I knew the two couldn’t coexist.” She decided to leave the religion and attend California State University, Northridge.
Kelsey recalled being “so separated from society” and shared that she’s been catching up on things for a long time. “From rebuilding relationships with family and friends to watching movies I wasn’t able to experience,” she explained. “Even to this day, friends of mine will ask if I’ve seen certain movies and they can’t believe that as an actress I haven’t seen some of the most iconic films!”
On her date with Joey, Kelsey explained that she and her father used to be really close when she was a kid. They would play video games and talk about everything together. She called him “my rock, my safe haven.” Then, when she realized her heart wasn’t in his religion, he stopped speaking to her for years. Needless to say, he did not support her decision to go to college.
Advert
“Anyone who is in his household has to be in the religion,” she told Joey, breaking down in tears. Kelsey noted that over the past few years, she’s started to slowly reconnect with her father, but it’s still “hard.” My man really had no idea to how to react to all of that information, but he did his best, and I applaud that.