The Bachelor has lost another contestant. Erin Storm, a contestant on the 12th season of the long-running ABC reality dating show, died in a plane crash in Los Angeles on Monday. According to a report by Us Weekly , The Bachelor alum was flying the Airborne XRT-912 plane that crashed shortly after takeoff from the Hawthorne Municipal Airport. The plane was engulfed in flames when rescuers tried to save Storm, who was flying solo.
‘The Bachelor’ Contestant — Dies In Plane Crash – Erin Storm, who competed for the affection of Matt Grant on … https://t.co/sv6OF7xeMo
— Bryan Beckford (@BryanBeckford) March 22, 2016
Erin Storm worked as a pilot for Blue Pacific Air, an aircraft training facility based at the L.A. area airport. But her career as a pilot was a far cry from her occupation that was listed when she was a contestant on The Bachelor . During her stint on The Bachelor eight years ago, Storm’s occupation was listed as a “hotdog vendor,” but she had also been working as a flight attendant for United Airlines for several years. The California beauty was eliminated in the third week of British Bachelor star Matt Grant’s season.
Former ‘Bachelor’ Season 12 Contestant Erin Storm Reportedly Dies in Plane Crash: Details https://t.co/TDYlJIAdgX
— Los Angeles News Now (@lanewsnow) March 22, 2016
Matt Grant expressed his condolences over the death of Storm. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight , The Bachelor star said he was shocked to learn of the passing of his former love interest.
“Massively shocked. Devastated for her family and friends. We were lucky to have Erin on season 12. She was genuine, self-assured, beautiful and hilarious.”
While Erin Storm’s time on The Bachelor was brief, Grant said he knew there was much more to her than her job as a hotdog vendor.
“Somehow you knew from the first minute of being with her that Erin could pretty much go and do anything. On my season her occupation was listed as Hot Dog Vendor…which surprised me a little bit. From talking to her, it soon became clear she was a smart, entrepreneurial cookie.”
Matt Grant’s Bachelor final pick, Shayne Lamas, also spoke of Storm’s untimely passing. Lamas told Radar Online she was in shock over her Bachelor co-star’s violent death.
“I’m in shock, Erin was such a kind soul. My heart goes out to her family. She always had a smile on her face and was a true peacemaker. I’m saddened to see someone with Erin’s virtues leave us so soon.”
News of Erin Storm’s death comes just a month after the death of Bachelor Season 14 contestant, Lex McAllister. Lex was the second contestant from Jake Pavelka’s season of The Bachelor to take her own life. McAllister overdosed on prescription pills earlier this year, and in 2013 Bachelor and Bachelor Pad alum Gia Allemand committed suicide by hanging herself. Other deaths from The Bachelor franchise include the tragic death of former Bachelorette contestant Julien Hug, who was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 2010.
And in a really sad situation, during Andi Dorfman’s season of The Bachelorette , host Chris Harrison announced the death of one of that season’s competitors just weeks after Dorfman sent him home. The Bachelor host broke the news of Eric Hill’s fatal paragliding accident to Dorfman and her final four guys while they were on camera. Dorfman became visibly upset and began sobbing about her final conversation with Hill, which had actually been an argument in which he accused her of “acting” and having a “poker face.”
Some fans of The Bachelor felt that the show exploited the late contestant’s death by telling Andi about it on camera, but Harrison told TV Guide that he felt it would be hypocritical not to show it . Dorfman, who appeared on Juan Pablo Galavis’s season of The Bachelor before landing the starring role on The Bachelorette , told People she was stunned to learn of Hill’s passing just a few weeks after she said goodbye to him on the show.
“I was devastated. Shock, devastation, grief. It’s something you never could have predicted [or] expected.”
Take a look at the video below for more on the death of The Bachelor contestant Erin Storm.
[Photo By Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Pure Nightclub]
