Bachelor’s Sydney Warner Defends Her ‘Values’ After ‘Love Island’ Criticism

Bachelor Nation alum Sydney Warner has no intention of tuning into any Love Island franchise this summer.

“A little food for thought: I see so many people talking about the lure of this show,” Warner, 31, wrote in a since-expired post via her Instagram Stories on Thursday, June 4. “Instead of consuming content centered on temptation, lust, drama and unhealthy relationships, I’d rather invest that time in growing my faith, learning something new, reading or being fully present with my family.”

She continued, “I want to deinfluence what’s now the ‘new norm’ of watching young adults on television be, quite frankly, absolutely disgusting. None of us are perfect, and this isn’t about being better than anyone else. It’s simply about being intentional with what we allow to influence our hearts and minds.”

Warner said that, the older she gets, the more she has realized that the media she watches shows up in how she will “think, speak and live.”

Within hours, Warner claimed that she received an onslaught of “hateful messages.”

“I just wanna say … the amount of hateful messages that I have received over speaking on my value system has really surprised me,” Warner wrote in a follow-up post on Thursday, responding to a fan’s comment that her opinion is allegedly why her “ass gets left out of things.”

The influencer continued, “I want to be clear about something: sharing my personal convictions is not the same as condemning anyone else. I’ve always wanted this page to be a place where women can connect, encourage one another and have honest conversation. That doesn’t require us to agree on everything.”

While Warner is open to productive debates with her online community, she does not plan to “change [her] beliefs” just to gain approval from outside sources.

“My values are not determined by what’s popular, and I don’t base my belief system on not being ‘left out,’” she stated. “Even though being left out is not a good feeling to anyone. We can disagree without being cruel.”

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Warner concluded, “We can have different beliefs without attacking one another, and I hope this community can be a place where both kindness and conviction still exist.”

Warner previously appeared on Peter Weber’s season of The Bachelor in 2020. After being sent home early in the season, Sydney found love with San Francisco 49ers star Fred Warner later that year. The couple tied the knot in 2022 before welcoming two kids together.

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