Josh Seiter is alive. Though the former “Bachelorette” contestant’s Instagram account shared a statement announcing his death on Monday, that post has since been deleted. Seiter shared a new video on the platform Tuesday morning, claiming that his Instagram account had been compromised by an unknown third party “playing a cruel joke.”<\/p>\n
“As you can see, I am alive and well,” Seiter begins in the video. “My account was hacked. For the last 24 hours, I have been trying desperately to get into it. Somebody was playing a cruel joke and mocking my mental illness and the struggles I’ve gone through with depression and suicide attempts. I’m sorry for the pain they caused when they made that post.”<\/p>\n
The 36-year-old model has talked openly about his struggles with mental health and sobriety since appearing as a contestant on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s season of “The Bachelorette” in 2015. Four days earlier, Seiter had shared a new statement about his mental health: “Surviving depression and anxiety one day at a time with a smile.” <\/p>\n
The erroneous death statement was attributed to Seiter’s family and alluded to the model’s mental health history, directing viewers with their own crises to the suicide and crisis lifeline. <\/p>\n
“I just got back into my account. I’m going to do all I can with my team to try to identify who is behind this. But again, I apologize for the confusion,” Seiter says at the end of his new video. “I will update you as more facts come in. Thank you, guys.”<\/p>\n