Former Bachelorette star Josh Seiter has claimed that his highly-publicized gender transition from male to female was an elaborate hoax.
The 37-year-old came clean during an episode of Blaze TV’s Prime Time with Alex Stein on Tuesday.
He wiped off his make up and revealed he had been transitioning as a ‘social experiment online to expose how gullible and delusional the left is.’
‘I hope that this could help some people understand that just because you put on dresses and makeup as a man doesn’t magically make you a woman.’
Speaking to DailyMail.com ahead of the interview, Seiter confirmed that his transgender stunt was nothing more than a ‘social experiment’ he’d cooked up to cause controversy.
‘I’ve been running it for four months to see how far people will take postmodern gender ideology and woke culture,’ he said.
‘The medical guidelines and scientific literature make it clear that trans individuals don’t have to have gender dysphoria, don’t have to transition, don’t have to take hormones, get surgery, or alter their appearance in any way to be trans,’ he continued.
He then blasted ‘the science’ used to justify modern gender ideology.
‘All trans women are biological males who identify as women. All trans men are biological women who identify as men,’ he said.
‘But the medical guidelines and science use verbal legerdemain and semantical nonsense to create a nebulous set of rules that are so contradictory and so amorphous that they are utterly meaningless and fail to even define who is trans and who isn’t.
‘The fact that millions of people are debating if I am a woman after living for 37 years as the man I am anatomically says all that needs to be said about how shallow the intellectual waters are that we are wading in with the trans movement and gender ideology.’
Seiter and Stein discussed his motivations for the experiment and his desire to change the conversation around mental health and transgenderism.
‘There are people that deserve our compassion and our help that are struggling and going through crisis’ and what they need is someone who actual understands them and talks to them and gives them love and not someone that feeds them lies for profit,’ Seiter said.
‘Why do we tell people with gender dysphoria, “yes, are correct, your delusions are correct?” They need treatment just like people with anorexia, just like people with schizophrenia.’
Seiter first announced his intention to transition into a woman on May 20 in an open letter to his 960,000 Instagram followers.
‘I have struggled with my gender identity – and resulting feelings of guilt and shame – for as long as I can remember,’ he wrote at the time.
‘I spent the last three decades trying to keep this side of me private. I felt I had no choice, given my upbringing in a strictly religious, conservative family.’
He went on to share that he had ‘projected the image of a strong, masculine son and brother’ to the world, but no longer wanted to hide his true self.
At the time, he said he was not on hormone therapy and had no intention of undergoing gender reassignment surgery.
The Chicago-based influencer and male stripper appeared as a contestant in season 11 of the Bachelorette, where he memorably stripped for Kaitlyn Bristowe during their first interaction.
After being eliminated, Seiter returned to work as a stripper and courted a string of high-profile girlfriends, among them reality stars Yolanda Leak and Karine Staehle – both of whom appeared on 90 Day Fiancé – and then Love After Lockup’s Lizzie Kommes.
He also briefly came out as bisexual in June 2023, to coincide with Pride Month.
In August 2023, Seiter was part of an elaborate death hoax after a false statement posted to his Instagram account claimed he had died at the age of 36.
The news quickly spread just days after the former reality star had spoken about his mental health struggles on social media.
‘It is with an extremely heavy heart that we share the tragic news of Joshua’s unexpected passing,’ the statement read, which was later proven to be false.
It added that Seiter’s ‘fearless voice and indomitable spirit helped thousands of people in their darkest moments feel just a little less alone.’
Days later, Seiter returned to social media to inform his followers that he was in fact alive.
‘Hey guys, as you can see, I am alive and well, my account was hacked, for the last 24 hours I have been trying desperately to get into it.
‘Somebody was playing a cruel joke, mocking my mental illness and the struggles I’ve gone through with depression and suicide attempts, I’m sorry for all the pain they caused when they made that post.
‘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. I apologize again for the confusion and I will update you guys when more facts come in.’
He was accused of faking his death for publicity, but Seiter has denied this.
After coming out as transgender, Seiter changed his pronouns to ‘she/her’ and started using women’s restrooms.
While fans were initially supportive of the 37-year-old’s decision, some later questioned his intentions and accused the reality star of ‘trolling’ for attention.
Speaking to DailyMail.com about the backlash in June of this year, Seiter insisted at the time that his transition was the real deal – and said that his haters were just jealous of his gorgeous good looks.
