The Bachelor alum Kelsey Toussant has revealed the current status of her relationship with her father after a long estrangement.
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On Joey Graziadei’s The Bachelor season, Kelsey T. opened up to Joey during their one-on-one date in Montreal about how she was extremely close to her father growing up, until she decided that she didn’t want to focus her life — and career — around his religion.
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The 31-year-old actress from Los Angeles, CA, recalled, “Because I chose to go to college, he didn’t support that decision at all. Anyone who’s in his household has to be in the religion, and so I wasn’t allowed to be there anymore. So I went to live with my mom and we stopped talking.”
Kelsey T. did not specify what religion she was raised in, but she previously spoke to Voyage LA magazine about her estrangement from her father and how he was a Jehovah’s Witness.
Now that the show has aired, Kelsey revealed how her relationship with her father has changed during a recent appearance on the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast.
Kelsey told the podcast’s co-hosts, Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt, that things with her dad are “really good” now.
“I am so shocked, honestly, because we’ve been working on it for a while but it’s never gotten to a point where we feel like we have an actual relationship,” Kelsey shared.
“It’s different when you talk to someone or you call someone. When you have an actual relationship with someone and it’s building, that’s where we’re at now. And I didn’t know if we could get there.”
Kelsey confirmed, “It’s there though.”
Joey was only the second person whom Kelsey had ever told about her estranged relationship with her father, and so she was admittedly “very nervous” to bring the subject up on The Bachelor’s 28th season, which just wrapped on March 25.
The first person to learn about her dad, who had cut Kelsey out of his life because she wouldn’t adhere to the strict traditions and rules of his religion, was her ex-fiance.
Kelsey revealed that her father “actually watched” The Bachelor episode with her, the one in which Kelsey told the story of her childhood.
“I asked if he could come over and just watch it with me because I wanted to see how he felt, and I also wanted to be with him in that moment if he had questions or needed anything from me or if he had anything to say to me,” Kelsey explained.
“So we watched it. He was a little emotional,” Kelsey recalled.
“But overall, he was like, ‘Hey, again, I feel like we’ve grown from that place and I hope that we can get better and continue to get better. All you did was share your truth, and that’s all you can do.'”
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Kelsey said her dad “has been very supportive,” adding, “And he’s been very honest with how our relationship has been in the past and how he wants it to go in the future.”
Joe and Serena gushed about how that’s a wonderful outcome for the family members, and Kelsey confirmed that her dad actually attended The Bachelor: After the Final Rose with her.
“I was shocked because I wasn’t sure if he was going to come at all,” Kelsey admitted.
“He doesn’t do TV. He stays very private on social media, so I was like, ‘I don’t know if he’s actually going to come. But he came and he also took a shot [at new The Bachelorette star Jenn Tran’s request], too. I was like, ‘Okay, Dad!'”
Kelsey shared, “It’s great to know that although we’ve disagreed over a lot of things and how he saw my life… going somewhere totally different from where it is now, he can still be there to support me, no matter what, even if his vision of what his child was supposed to be or do is never going to happen.”
Kelsey said she’ll also continue to support her father as well, despite her disapproval of some of his choices.
“My dad is human. He’s made some mistakes, and I’m going to love him regardless,” Kelsey concluded.
“So for us to be there in that moment, and for him to support me through it no matter what, I love him for that.”
When Kelsey previously spoke to Voyage LA magazine, she revealed that her relationship with her dad fell apart in high school.
“I knew I had creative genes flowing through my body… When high school came around, I joined a theater class and that’s when I realized I wanted to pursue creativity for the rest of my life,” Kelsey T. explained before her stint on The Bachelor.
“At the same time, I was a full-blown Jehovah’s Witness and I knew the two couldn’t co-exist. So I decided to leave the religion and set my focus on attending California State University, Northridge.”
Kelsey went on to have three majors: accounting, broadcast journalism, and theater.
“After a successful play, costume designing, directing, improv, and on camera classes, I realized that I didn’t choose this dream — it chose me,” she told the magazine.
“I would be doing myself and everyone else a disservice if I only made it a side hustle. After graduating, acting became my life.”
She elaborated, “Since then I’ve been honored to be a part of several web series, short films… a commercial, and shared the creative space with some of the most talented creatives I know. In addition to acting, I also dabble in modeling and I’m starting a clothing line named TOUSSANT.”
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Kelsey admitted, however, that carving her own path and supporting herself while pursuing her passions wasn’t easy.
“Coming from a very strict religious background, I’ve had to break out of a mentality that I’ve had for more than half my life. I was so separated from society and didn’t even realize it and I’ve had to play catch-up ever since,” Kelsey explained.
“From rebuilding relationships with family and friends to watching movies I wasn’t able to experience. 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!”
Kelsey said a lot of sacrifice went into “being a creative” and doing such work has caused “a lot of downfalls, disappointments and fruitless expenses” for her.
“Despite those challenges,” Kelsey said, “I can go through rain, sleet, mud, snow or hunger and get one opportunity to act, then suddenly I don’t remember how hard the journey’s been.”
Kelsey concluded, “I can’t remember where I heard this first but I truly believe Luck is when Preparation meets Opportunity. Success to me is connecting dreams.”
On The Bachelor, Kelsey admitted to Joey that her situation with her father “messed [her] up very badly” and she was still struggling to trust men in relationships.
However, Kelsey revealed that she and her father had been in touch and were working to slowly repair their relationship.
“It’s hard because he still missed a lot,” Kelsey lamented to The Bachelor star.
Joey complimented Kelsey on being strong and resilient, and he said he felt very connected to the bachelorette.
However, Joey eliminated Kelsey right before hometown dates on The Bachelor.
The show ended with Joey getting engaged to the other Kelsey — Kelsey Anderson — and the couple is still together now and planning a move to New York City this summer.
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About The Author:
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.