Ryan Sutter Glad Fans Expressed Concern About His Cryptic Trista Posts

Ryan Sutter didn’t know his recent social media posts about his wife, former Bachelorette Trista Sutter, would gain so much attention from fans.

Ryan, 49, made headlines earlier this month for sharing that he misses Trista, 51, in a handful of cryptic Instagram posts without saying where his wife went. The uploads were different from his typical social media activity, as Ryan noted in a Tuesday, May 21, post that he mostly shares photos of his dog.

“I feel pretty normal because I am pretty normal,” he captioned a black and white pic of his adorable pooch. “But 21 years ago I was pretty famous. I don’t have millions of followers and am not influencing anyone but for some reason, every now and then, people still pay attention.”

After posting his messages to Trista “for a time when she could eventually read it,” Ryan said people assumed his posts suggested that she had died, that their relationship was on the rocks or that they were going through midlife crises. In addition to his comments being highly publicized, Ryan said he also got texts from friends asking if he was OK.

Related: Bachelorette’s Trista Sutter and Ryan Sutter’s Relationship Timeline

Although many Bachelor Nation couples struggled after the show and have ultimately broken up, the original Bachelorette and her husband are still going strong. Trista Sutter (née Rehn) and Ryan Sutter met on night one of season 1 of The Bachelorette — and hit it off immediately. “I decided going in that I needed to […]

“All because I missed my wife and chose to share how that felt. It felt weird to wear the clothes of past fame once again, even if only briefly. It reminded me of how crazy life was and of how grateful I am for the life I have,” he explained, noting that it “felt good to know people still cared, and worried and wondered.”

He concluded: “It felt good to be noticed and inspired me to do better at paying attention to others — when they do good or when they need help. In the end, like most things, everything turned out OK. Though I think I’ll go back to posting about my dog again for a bit.”

In one of his previous posts, Ryan revealed that Trista did not spend Mother’s Day with him and their two children, Maxwell, 15, and Blakesley, 14. “Sometimes you have to go away so they know you’ll come back, that your love is not limited by distance or difficulty or time. Sometimes you have to do what you sometimes have to do,” he wrote alongside a black-and-white family photo on May 12. “We’re proud of you mama pajama for everything you do for us, near or far.”

Related: See Trista and Ryan Sutter’s Family Album

Sutter squad, assemble! Trista and Ryan Sutter met during the inaugural season of The Bachelorette and have since become an adorable family of four. Trista made her first Bachelor Nation appearance during season 1 of The Bachelor, which aired in 2002. After Alex Michel selected her as the runner-up, she became the first-ever Bachelorette in […]

Nearly a week later, he clarified that both he and Trista were “fine” amid the fan concern. “Trista is at a place in life where she is searching a bit. An opportunity presented itself that may help her on that quest,” he shared on Saturday, May 18. “With her family’s support, she has taken it. Part of that process means that she is temporarily inaccessible to us.” (Trista, for her part, has not publicly addressed the speculation.)

Ryan and Trista remain one of Bachelor Nation’s longest-lasting couples after falling in love on season 1 of The Bachelorette in 2003. They tied the knot during a televised TV ceremony later that year.

As fans await news of Trista’s current location, Bachelor Nation’s Ashley Iaconetti offered up her own theory behind the reality star’s absence. “She’s away for two weeks. Apparently, [former Bachelorette] Ali Fedotowsky is also away for two weeks, [she] had a very similar post,” Iaconetti, 36, said on the May 15 episode of her and Ben Higgins’ “Almost Famous” podcast. “So, is she shooting a show? Is she on Special Forces? Because I told her she’d be perfect for Special Forces.”

Several stars from the ABC dating show franchise have competed on the first two seasons of Fox’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, including Hannah Brown, Nick Viall and Tyler Cameron.