NEW YORK — “The Bachelor” alum Melissa Rycroft is opening up about her recent struggles with mental health following her second DWI arrest in just over a year.

“First, please know how deeply ashamed and embarrassed I am, especially knowing how much this has affected my friends and family,” 43-year-old Rycroft wrote in a lengthy post shared to Instagram on Tuesday.

“I want to share something personal, and to be honest, I am very ashamed to share it, but I can’t hide it anymore,” she continued. “I’ve been struggling with my mental health for quite some time now. It has completely overwhelmed me. I’ve tried to hide what I’ve been going through by putting on a smile, but behind the scenes, things been much harder than anyone realized or that I have let on, even to my family.”

Rycroft emphasized that she was not trying to make excuses for herself, and she revealed to her followers that she is currently receiving “professional care.”

“This is hard to say and the shame is still very much there but I’m ready to feel like myself again, for me and for my family,” she added. “They have stood by me through all of this and they deserve honesty they deserve me at my best. That’s what I’m working toward for all of us.”

The post comes just two days after Rycroft was arrested in Texas and briefly jailed at the Tarrant County Corrections Center in Fort Worth, Entertainment Weekly reported. She is facing charges including second-degree driving while intoxicated; driving with a prior conviction or suspension without financial responsibility, and collision causing damage to a vehicle greater than or equal to $200.

Rycroft on Sunday allegedly hit an ambulance and drove off before she was ultimately taken into custody, Us Weekly reported.

The “Dancing with the Stars” alum was also previously arrested in September 2025, after crashing her Cadillac Escalade into a tree in Southlake, Texas. She was released on $1,000 bond and promised to appear in court.

In August, she pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 months of probation.

Rycroft appeared in Season 13 of “The Bachelor” in 2009, and she briefly became engaged to the star, Jason Mesnick. Shortly after their on-air proposal, however, Mesnick, ended things with Rycroft to pursue a relationship with runner-up Molly Malaney. The duo later got married in 2010.

Rycroft, who was also once a cheerleader for the Dallas Cowboys, went on to marry Tye Strickland, with whom she shares three children.

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