Melissa Rycroft Speaks Out After Second DWI Arrest: 'I Need Help,' Says She Is Getting Professional Care
Reality television star Melissa Rycroft Strickland posted on Instagram on Tuesday, November 3, speaking publicly for the first time since her second arrest on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, saying she has long struggled with her mental health, feels deeply ashamed, and is now getting professional care, according to USA Today and People.
Rycroft, 43, appeared on Season 13 of The Bachelor and won the all-star season of Dancing with the Stars. "I want to share something personal, and to be honest, I am very ashamed to share it, but I can't hide it anymore. I've been struggling with my mental health for quite some time now. It has completely overwhelmed me," she wrote, adding that she had hidden her struggles behind a smile, even from her family.
"No excuses at all, but I'm finally admitting that I need help. I've fought this for a long time on my own, and it's time to admit that I can't do it anymore. I'm getting professional care," she wrote. She asked the public for grace and for privacy for her family, saying they have stood by her and "deserve honesty. They deserve me at my best."
According to a Southlake Police Department news release, at about 5:50 p.m. on Saturday, October 31, a Southlake Fire Department ambulance stopped at a stop sign at South Peytonville Avenue and Chimney Works Drive in Southlake, Texas, was struck by another vehicle, whose driver left the scene. No injuries were reported. Officers located the driver a short time later and identified her as Rycroft Strickland. She was arrested on Sunday, November 1, and charged with driving while intoxicated, second offense, an accident involving damage of more than $200, and driving with an invalid license. Her combined bond was set at $9,000, according to Tarrant County jail records. The charges remain pending.
It was her second DWI arrest in Southlake. On September 23, 2025, she was arrested after the black Cadillac Escalade she was driving struck a tree. She later pleaded guilty and was sentenced in September 2026 to 20 months of probation and $2,000 in fines and court costs, and was ordered to complete 36 hours of community service, a DWI education course and a substance abuse evaluation.
Rycroft rose to fame on The Bachelor in 2009, when she accepted a proposal from Jason Mesnick before he ended the engagement on live television in favor of runner-up Molly Malaney. She married insurance broker Tye Strickland in 2009 and they share three children. In 2012 she won Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars with partner Tony Dovolani.
Source: Melissa Rycroft's Instagram account
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 德克萨斯州南湖市（Southlake）市中心资料图（Southlake Texas摄，CC BY 2.0，经Wikimedia Commons；非事发现场图）
