Beloved fans of the Bachelor franchise will certainly know who Emily Maynard is. She was both vying for love on The Bachelor and later became the lead on The Bachelorette.
Emily didn’t end up finding her forever partner on either reality TV show, but she did end up marrying a man named Tyler Johnson. The two wed in 2014 and have since welcomed five children. Emily is also the mother to an older daughter named Ricki, who is named after her late father, NASCAR driver Ricky Hendrick, who died in 2004.
In October, Emily took to social media to mourn her late fiancé as this year marks the 20th anniversary of his death.
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Former The Bachelorette Emily Maynard Reflects On The 20th Anniversary Of Her Fiancé’s Death
Emily Maynard suffered a devastating loss when her former fiancé Ricky Hendrick, died on October 24, 2004, in a plane crash. 20 years later, she shared a touching tribute to him on Instagram where she revealed that his death had “completely changed my life.”
“20 years. How did this even happen? It’s so strange to have a specific marker in time that completely changed my life and soul forever.”
She continued, “I look at pictures and don’t even recognize that girl anymore, no matter how much I wish I could. In one hand I feel like I’ve changed so much and then in the other, that I’ve been paralyzed at age 18 forever. I have so many things I can’t wait to tell him. I can’t wait for him to meet my Tyler. I know they’ll love each other and that Ricky is so grateful for how well he has taken care of hir girls.”
“Thank you God, for letting me be a part of his life and for allowing me the gift of being loved by him,” Emily concluded.
Ricky was a NASCAR driver and the son of Rick Hendrick, the founder of Hendrick Motorsports. On October 24, 2004, Ricky, who was 24, and nine others died when their small plane crashed while on its way to Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. Days after his death, Emily learned she was pregnant with their child. On June 29, 2005, Emily welcomed their daughter, who she named Josephine Riddick “Ricki” Hendrick.
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Emily Receives Heartwarming Support From An Ex
Emily Maynard tried her hand at reality TV to find love again. She was a contestant on Brad Womack’s season of The Bachelor, and ended up getting proposed to. However, their engagement did not last long. In 2020, she reflected on their short-lived engagement, telling former Bachelor host Chris Harrison that it was her fault the two did not work out.
“It didn’t last so long, but I take a lot of the blame for that too. I was 24. I’m 34 now. I didn’t have the maturity to deal with all of that. And it was really hard. We both put a lot of work traveling back and forth and all of that, but I think we both knew, ‘This is just not fun anymore. This is just not going to work.'”
The two appeared to have ending things amicably. After Emily shared a photo of her and her late fiancé Ricky on Instagram to mark 20 years since his death, Brad commented on her photo.
“You are a rare and beautiful human being, Emily,” Brad commented alongside a blue heart emoji.
Emily also received support from the first-ever Bachelorette, Trista Sutter. She commented on her post, “Beautiful heartbreak and so well said. Sending love on this difficult day.”
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Emily’s mother also wrote a touching comment, “He was her first love, and she was his last, a beautfiul love story that lives thru their daughter and all who got to be part of their lives. My heart is with you both on this day of rememberance and tribute to a beautiful soul taken too soon.”
The former reality TV star also received a ton of love from her followers who said things like, “Beautfiul. Grief never goes away, it just changes over time. Sending you and your sweet family love.”
Who Is Emily’s Husband, Tyler Johnson?
After Emily and Brad split, she was chosen to become The Bachelorette Season 8 lead. In the end, Emily accepted a proposal from Jef Holm, but their romance also ended rather quickly. Emily didn’t wait long to find love again. In 2014, she married Tyler Johnson, an executive general manager at Hendrick Motors of Charlotte, which coincidentally is owned by Emily’s late fiance’s father.
Tyler Johnson shares the same birthday as Emily’s late fiance, Ricky Hendrick, which is April 2.
According to ComingSoon, Emily and Tyler met at church before she filmed The Bachelorette. Just a few months after she and Jef split, they began to date. Tyler proposed to the reality star in January 2014 and along with her daughter Ricki, are parents to 5 children — Jennings, Gibson, Gatlin, Nola Bella, and Jones.
In an Instagram post celebrating her husband’s birthday in 2018, she revealed that both her husband and Ricky shared the same birthday. Emily believed it was “God sitting in Heaven smiling at me” when Tyler told her. She added, “He is absolutely nothing short of the best thing that’s ever happened in my life.”
- Release Date
- January 8, 2003
- Main Genre
- Reality
- Cast
- Chris Harrison , Tayshia Adams , Kaitlyn Bristowe , Jesse Palmer
- Network
- ABC
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu , The Roku Channel
