For the typical hunk on The Bachelorette, appearing on the reality TV series affords an easy entry into showbiz, and perhaps, the chance to find romance. But for Massachusetts accountant Dylan Petitt, it’s been much more: a way to take his mind off the latest tragedy to befall his family.
Just last November, his younger brother, Patrick, died at age 23. And in late 2009, his older sister, Jessica Emery, passed away at age 34. “I’ve been through a lot in my life,” says Dylan, whose father walked out on the family when the reality star was just 2. “I’ve been through the ringer.”
He adds that Jessica was his “best friend” growing up, but she unfortunately fell in with some bad company. According to news reports, she pled guilty in 2006 to a felony charge of possession of narcotics after her drug dealer boyfriend sold heroin that led to the death of a college student. Plus, a family friend tells Star that Jessica had already been struggling for years, with one of her children being diagnosed with cancer.
The friend adds that Patrick — who’d had his own run in with the law, a 2012 arrest for second-degree threatening — “had problems with their father and also with Jessica’s passing. It all took a toll.”
“It’s still new, my brother’s passing,” Dylan admits. “I got lost. For a whole month, I didn’t know what to do.” Still, he says, “I’m ready to start fresh. I’m ready to be the dad I never had and have kids I can play with. I want to start my family…it’s just finding that right girl. And Andi [Dorfman] is spot-on the type of girl I’d like to marry someday.”
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