Reality Check: Bryan Abasolo addresses filing for divorce from 'Bachelorette' Rachel Lindsay

Rachel Lindsay, star of 2017’s “Bachelorette” season 13, has spoken only briefly to acknowledge that her season-winner husband, Bryan Abasolo, filed for divorce on Jan. 2. Now Abasolo is speaking in more detail, with a series of answers to commenters’ questions on his Instagram this past week.

Distance was not the issue, assured Abasolo, a chiropractor who turns 44 on Feb. 15. “[W]e’ve been living together for almost 3 years here in LA,” wrote the former Miami practitioner. “Not sure why people think we’ve been apart this entire time. Yes, her career came first, but there were opportunities for her that were smart for her to take which could have not been offered later. It’s hard as it is for women of color to get big gigs[,] which I’ve observed through watching Rachel’s efforts.”

He added, “I didn’t have anything lined up for me in LA, but we were a team so I closed up shop, uprooted and opened up a new business in LA.” And he noted, “It’s not just women who should be expected to sacrifice, but a man can do it too. Her building her future was not the problem. I would encourage anyone to pursue their dreams and hope they have a healthy support system to do so.”

Abasolo said he will remain in Los Angeles rather than return to Miami. “I had a practice in Florida which I closed and moved to open a new one in LA. It’s starting to be profitable so I will be staying here for the foreseeable future.”

And he shut down one judgmental commenter who had contended that attorney turned entertainment reporter and media personality Lindsay, 38, "didn’t want family.”

“Rachel did want a family,” Abasolo responded. “Things happen as they’re meant to happen. God Bless.”

On the day of his divorce filing, Abasolo wrote on social media:  “After more than 4 years of marriage, Rachel and I have made the difficult decision to part ways and start anew. My parents have been married forever and I'm a family man, but sometimes loving yourself and your partner means you must let go.”

The couple married Aug. 24, 2019, in Cancún, Mexico.

Premieres

It’s a brand-new “Below Deck,” as Capt. Kerry Titheradge from "Below Deck Adventure" steps into the flagship show. Helming the yacht St. David, he sails to the West Indies island of Grenada with the returning chief stew Fraser Olender and lead deckhand Ben Willoughby, plus newcomers chef Anthony Iracane, boatswain Jared Woodin, deckhands Marie "Sunny" Marquis and Kyle Stillie, and stews Cat Baugh, Xandi Olivier and Barbie Pascual. The season 11 opener casts off from 9 to 10:45 p.m. on Bravo … Early Wednesday on the streaming service Hulu, that Polite married couple, Dedric and Krystal Polite, again renovate and flip homes with the formula of less than $50,000 in under 50 days on the sophomore season of the appropriately titled “50/50 Flip” … Early Thursday on the streamer Peacock, four couples at a tony resort experiment with adding a third person, and try to decide if they want to go from, as the title says, a “Couple to Throuple” … Then from 8 to 9:01 p.m. on MTV, take a seventh “Jersey Shore Family Vacation,” now with 100% more Ronnie Ortiz-Magro … Then with two back-to-back series premiere episodes from 10:03 to 11:04 p.m. on Lifetime, the new “I Wasn’t Expecting a Baby!” follows various women — including Hempstead’s Tiffany Lashaun Stewart in the first episode — who have experienced a medical condition called “cryptic pregnancy,” during which the mother does not realize she is pregnant until going into labor.

Recaps

Lauren Hollinger quit, while Taylor Wiens and current New Yorkers Erika Cardenas and Marlena Haddad were denied roses on the second episode of “The Bachelor” season 28.