“I’m finally admitting that I need help,” Melissa Rycroft told her followers after her second arrest on suspicion of driving while intoxicated in just over a year. The former Bachelor contestant addressed the situation in a lengthy Instagram statement on November 3.
Rycroft, 43, said she is receiving professional care, according to Entertainment Weekly. She did not disclose a diagnosis or identify the treatment she is receiving, and her message did not describe the circumstances of the collision police were investigating.
Jail records reviewed by the outlet listed her latest booking on November 1, following an investigation by Southlake police in Texas. Rycroft was already serving probation for a separate DWI conviction when the new case arose.
Her message also addressed her husband, Tye Strickland, and their three children. The couple married in 2009. “They have stood by me through all of this, and they deserve honesty. They deserve me at my best,” she wrote.
Rycroft Says She Hid Her Struggles Behind a Smile
View this post on Instagram
Rycroft began by describing her shame and embarrassment over the effect her recent troubles have had on friends and relatives. In the statement reproduced by PEOPLE, she said she had been struggling with her mental health for some time and had become overwhelmed.
She described continuing to smile while concealing how difficult things had become in private. Even her family, she said, had not understood the extent of what she was experiencing because she had not let them see it.
Rycroft stressed that she was not offering those difficulties as an excuse for what happened. She closed by asking people for understanding as she works on her health and requesting privacy for her family.
Police Say a Driver Struck a Stopped Ambulance and Left
The investigation began around 5:50 p.m. on October 31 at the intersection of South Peytonville Avenue and Chimney Works Drive. According to the Southlake Police Department’s account, reported by Irving Weekly, a fire department ambulance was stopped at a stop sign when another vehicle struck it and left the scene. No injuries were reported.
Officers located the suspected driver a short time later and identified her as Rycroft, police said. Authorities listed three charges: driving while intoxicated, second offense; driving with an invalid license; and an accident involving damage to a vehicle. Her combined bond was set at $9,000.
Police said she was taken to the Keller Regional Detention Facility for processing. The department described the collision investigation as ongoing; the new charges are separate from the case in which she previously pleaded guilty.
Her Earlier DWI Plea Required Probation and Alcohol Restrictions
The earlier case began on September 23, 2025, when Southlake officers responded to a single-vehicle crash and found a black Cadillac Escalade that had struck a tree. Witnesses reported seeing the vehicle being driven erratically before the collision, according to the department’s account.
Rycroft subsequently pleaded guilty to DWI. A judge signed off on her plea agreement on August 10, 2026, according to court documents reviewed by Us Weekly. The agreement provided for 20 months of probation instead of 280 days in jail, along with a $2,000 fine. Additional fees brought the reported total to $2,087.
The terms required 36 hours of community service within 120 days, a DWI education program and a substance abuse screening or evaluation. She also had to complete counseling, education or treatment as directed and submit to testing under the court’s supervision.
Rycroft was prohibited from consuming or possessing alcohol and had to check in monthly with Texas’ Community Supervision and Corrections Department. The agreement also barred her from driving without a camera-equipped ignition interlock device.