Retracing Chad Johnson's downhill path from 'The Bachelorette' stardom to landing behind bars
Chad Johnson, a villain on reality TV has sort of turned into a real-life villain with his arrest last week. His reputation has preceded him ever since his 'The Bachelorette' days. Johnson has always been portrayed in a womanizing light since he is constantly seen contesting in reality dating shows and his charm hasn't coveted the hearts of many, either. Somewhere, things must have gone really wrong for the reality star's life to turn out this way.
Brian Chad Johnson, 32, served in the US Marine Corps before he abandoned the forces to make a career out of reality TV. While on these shows, he would find himself knee-deep in controversies. His claim to fame, however, came in the form of Season 12 of 'The Bachelorette' (2016), where he earned 'Bad Chad' as a nickname for himself. However, he was unsuccessful in wooing the leading lady Joelle 'Jojo' Fletcher.
His next shot at lady luck was 'Bachelor in Paradise' (2016) Johnson was booted after the very first episode for aggressive behavior on the show and excessive drinking.
As humiliating as that experience was, it only urged Johnson to pursue his career in reality TV. He appeared on the short-lived dating show 'Famously Single' in 2017. The show focused on determining the root of every contestant's relationship turmoil and this essentially made him a crowd favorite. It brought out his soft side, which won the hearts of his viewers. However, he didn't have much luck on the show as his date Karina Smirnoff ('Dancing with the Stars') found him to be 'self-absorbed'.
Johnson has also ventured into the British reality scene with Season 20 of 'Celebrity Big Brother'. Johnson stirred up quite the controversy when his relationship with pop group Girls Aloud's Sarah Harding became a public display of intimacy. The two became a hotpot of gossip across the UK, especially with Harding being in a relationship outside of the CBB house. Yet, he fared well and ranked 5th on the season.
Johnson switched back to US reality TV and starred in 'Ex on the Beach' in 2018. The show featured reality stars living together with their exes in California. The cast comprised Farrah Abraham ('Teen Mom') and former 'Celebrity Big Brother' contestants Corey Brooks, Morgan Willett and Monte Massongill and also Johnson's ex-girlfriend Madeline Sullivan.
In 2019, Johnson was rumored to be dating Kendra Wilkinson and Caitlin Clemmons. He neither confirmed the rumor nor did he deny it. He began dating Annalise Mishler in mid-2019 and the couple made their red carpet debut in November 2019.
It seemed that their relationship was blissful, as suggested by Johnson and Mishler's social media posts. But it seems that things were far from perfect.
Johnson was arrested earlier last week on grounds of domestic violence and robbery. Mishler claimed that he'd showed up at her door, inebriated and violent, which was rather shocking since he'd sworn off alcohol as a promise to her.
Johnson said that he'd gone over to Mishler's to talk things out after she'd confronted him about seeing notifications from the dating app Hinge, on his phone. Mishler took to Instagram to post photographic evidence of Johnson's wrongdoings, which became evidence for his arrest.
Before he was taken into custody, Johnson publically apologized to Mishler and refuted the claims of domestic violence. While he admitted to having a "big relapse", he denied having laid a hand on his ex-girlfriend.
Even so, he has assured his followers in an Instagram video that he is working on bettering himself.
"That's all I can do, is put my best foot forward and try to be a better person every day from here on out and make fewer mistakes in life," he added.
His journey from an aspiring reality TV star to a malefactor has been awkward and unfortunate. His fame and achievements can't be credited to pragmatic decisions or popularity, either. We can only assume how he'll jump back from the situation that he has found himself and gain the crowd's favor, in due time.