There’s always a few odd occupations listed for the contestants on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, and on Hannah B’s season, one of those is news to the contestant himself. Bachelorette suitor Ryan Spirko is called a “roller boy,” but… what does that actually mean? Is he a roller skater? Someone who rolls dough? A Pokémon trainer?
In case you thought you were just out of the loop, nope, a “roller boy” isn’t something that everyone knows about except you. You can’t just Google “roller boy” (as I just did) and get a clear response. There is the aforementioned Pokémon trainer thing, but most of the results are for a children’s book titled Roller Boy, which is about a boy who gets into roller skating when he doesn’t make the baseball team. I suppose all this underlines that Ryan is probably just a guy who likes (or maybe just owns) roller skates (let's not forget that someone who finds canines delightful, as most humans do, was dubbed "Dog Lover" on The Bachelor). But is there any indication from the roller boy himself as to why the series would give him such a wild title? Yes... and no.
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Ryan’s Bachelorette bio on the ABC site doesn’t explain what a “roller boy” is, but does explain that he has a different, more recognizable job. “Ryan is an adventurous risk-taker from Philly,” the bio reads. “When he's not spending time outdoors hiking or rock climbing, he is passionately working as a data analyst to improve healthcare for women.” Well, unless data analysts are calling themselves “roller boys” these days, that doesn’t really help. The bio also explains that Ryan doesn’t like birds, is a “skilled tightrope walker," and was valedictorian of his high school class. Nothing roller boy related there.
Of course, we also have to look at Ryan’s Instagram. I was hoping it would be a trove of photos of him rollerskating and the mystery would be solved, but… no. Most of the pics are of him rock climbing. There are some mentions of his new gig, though, but the roller boy himself seems surprised it was his job title for the series. In Ryan's first Instagram about The Bachelorette, the 25-year-old posted his official show headshot and wrote, “Roller Boy or Data Analyst? Damn, I guess I have to change my LinkedIn.” (Narrator: He did not change his LinkedIn.)
Someone commented “ROLLER BOY” on the post and he responded, “hahaha #rollerboyryan .. tell your friends” along with a winky face. Another person wrote, “Finally some Philadelphia representation! (why don’t they have rollerskating emojis?!)” Does this person know that Ryan is secretly a roller skater? We may never know.
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On another post about The Bachelorette, someone commented, “Why are you labeled as the roller boy,” and Ryan just... didn’t respond. I'm starting to suspect this guy doesn't even know how to put on skates.
Then, on another post, this one of him on the beach (above), he wrote in the caption, “Sometimes you just gotta roll with it” along with a few Bachelorette-related hashtags. Is he a roller boy because he just... rolls with things? That's the literally the closest thing to a reason we've got at this point.
Either way, it seems like he thinks the nonsensical title is pretty funny, because he’s really loving that “#rollerboyryan” hashtag. Here’s hoping Ryan doesn’t get kicked off on night one so we can find out what this “roller boy” business is really about.