Who Is Sydney Hightower on 'The Bachelor,' Hannah Brown's Classmate?

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(Image credit: The Bachelor)

published 4 February 2020

Spoilers for The Bachelor ahead. The names of a few important contestants have begun to emerge from Peter Weber's Bachelor season—and one of those contestants is Sydney Hightower, who has very little drama attached to her name thus far, but has quietly advanced through the season.

Could she be this season's dark horse—like Katie Morton on Colton Underwood's season, who ended up having a particularly strong appearance on Bachelor in Paradise? Here's what we know so far about the contestant.

She recently set her Instagram to public.

Unlike a lot of other Bachelor contestants who set their Instagram profiles to public after the show finishes filming, Hightower was set to private until recently. She's quickly amassed more than 20,000 followers, and it seems she had a good experience on the show, based on one of her posts: "Feeling extremely nostalgic and thankful. Tonight is the start of this incredible journey I was so blessed to be a part of."

She went to high school with Hannah Brown.

We do know one cool thing about Hightower. Even though she isn't actually the only contestant who's from Alabama this season—Madison Prewett, who's also rumored to do well, is also a 'Bama girl—but Hightower was classmates with Brown at Tuscaloosa County High School. They actually were there at the same time, too. So I wondered if that'll make things awkward when Brown shows up (twice!) this season:

But they didn't seem to interact at all, which was...interesting? Warning: Spoilers ahead.

She gets sent home in Chile.

The Bachelor jammed two episodes into the first week of February—one Monday, one Wednesday—and it'll be the last week we see Hightower.

Though she makes it through Cleveland, Costa Rica, and most of Chile, not to mention the infamous 2-on-1 date that tends to happen at the apex of the season, Hightower is ultimately sent home in a rose ceremony that airs during the Wednesday episode.

She had a run-in with pageant queen Alayah Benavidez.

In one of the only instances I've seen on this show of one contestant critiquing another to the Bachelor or Bachelorette winning them a rose, Hightower was open with Weber about her concerns about Benavidez—namely, that she didn't think that Benavidez was being genuine with Weber, and (you guessed it) wasn't here for the right reasons. Weber gave Hightower a rose on their group date for being honest with him, and went on to eliminate Benavidez.

But then! Benavidez comes back, and previews show Weber declaring that he's being lied to by someone, which may suggest that he's having second thoughts about Hightower. But in spite of that...

She does fairly well on the show.

No spoilers about who won here, but Hightower at the very least cracks the top 12. She'll be one to watch—contestants from the top echelons (as well as the occasional funny contestant from night one) can show up on other Bachelor shows like Bachelor in Paradise. If you remember, Connor Saeli, who ended up being a fan fave and dated Whitney Fransway for a brief period after appearing on BiP, was a top 12 contestant before he self-eliminated. So if Hightower doesn't win Weber's heart, we still might see her again.

Here's everything we know about what happens this season.

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Katherine’s a contributing syndications editor at Marie Claire who covers fashion, culture, and lifestyle. In her role, she writes stories that are syndicated by MSN and other outlets. She’s been a full-time freelancer for over a decade and has had roles with Cosmopolitan (where she covered lifestyle, culture, and fashion SEO content) and Bustle (where she was their movies and culture writer). She has bylines in New York Times, Parents, InStyle, Refinery29, and elsewhere. Her work has also been syndicated by ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, Seventeen, Good Housekeeping, and Women’s Health, among others. In addition to her stories reaching millions of readers, content she's written and edited has qualified for a Bell Ringer Award and received a Communicator Award.

Katherine has a BA in English and art history from the University of Notre Dame and an MA in art business from the Sotheby's Institute of Art (with a focus on marketing/communications). She covers a wide breadth of topics: she's written about how to find the very best petite jeans, how sustainable travel has found its footing on Instagram, and what it's like to be a professional advice-giver in the modern world. Her personal essays have run the gamut from learning to dress as a queer woman to navigating food allergies as a mom. She also has deep knowledge of SEO/EATT, affiliate revenue, commerce, and social media; she regularly edits the work of other writers. She speaks at writing-related events and podcasts about freelancing and journalism, mentors students and other new writers, and consults on coursework. Currently, Katherine lives in Boston with her husband and two kids, and you can follow her on Instagram. If you're wondering about her last name, it’s “I go to dinner,” not “Her huge ego,” but she responds to both.