‘The Bachelor’: Is Sarah Trott’s Dad Still Alive?
Sarah Trott and Matt James hit it off early during his season of The Bachelor. But due to unfortunate family circumstances and the bullying environment in the mansion, Trott felt compelled to leave the show and return home to care for her dad. Here’s what’s going on with Trott’s father’s health.
Sarah Trott is a caregiver to her father, who has ALS
Early on in James’ season of The Bachelor, Trott became a fan-favorite for her grace and love of family. Trott opened up about her father’s condition during her one-on-one date with James. When Trott was in college, her dad was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
“Family is everything to me,” Trott explained to James, adding:
When I was in college, our family starting noticing some changes with my dad’s health and his behavior. We weren’t really sure what was going on and he was diagnosed with ALS — it’s the same disease Stephen Hawking had.
Mentally you’re the same person, but you slowly lose the ability to speak and walk and talk and do any sort of normal function. There is no cure to it, and the life expectancy is two to five years.
Trott left her job reporting and anchoring to be home and care full-time for her father. During her initial conversation with James, Trott said her dad had surpassed doctor’s expectations. But as time went on, leaving her dad behind starting weighing on Trott’s mind.
Sarah Trott removed herself from Matt James’ season of ‘The Bachelor’
During episode 3 of The Bachelor, Trott spoke with James on multiple occasions about her struggle with being there. In addition to thinking about her dad, Trott felt alienated by the other women after “stealing time” from them during on a group date to hash out her internal struggle with James.
During a conversation with Katie Thurston, Trott explained how the prognosis had gotten more dismal for her dad and that it wasn’t a matter of “years or months, but maybe weeks.”
Thurston wanted to make sure Trott wasn’t leaving because of the other women in the house. But when Trott explained her dad’s health status, Thurston understood. She lost her dad in 2012.
“I’ve prayed about this and I feel really called to go home and be with my family,” Trott told James later in the episode. He was sad at Trott’s departure but understood her desire to be there for her dad.
Is Sarah Trott’s dad still alive?
Trott’s father Tom Trott appears to be alive today. When the episode aired, she shared a photo of her family on Instagram with the caption: “Family first, always.”
Trott also shared an update of her dad on TikTok.
“For the first time in a while my dad was up for a walk around the neighborhood lake,” she captioned the post (via Just Jared).
He doesn’t get a chance to get out of the house often because it’s such a difficult process now — getting dressed, getting strapped safely into our wheelchair van, you know hot it goes… Things that once were so easy like putting on shorts, sunscreen, and hopping in the car for an adventure are much more difficult now.
Much of Bachelor Nation is pulling for the continued health of Trott’s father.
