Who Are Alicia Mae Holloway’s Parents? Social Media Is Debating Her Adoption Story

The Gist:

• Alicia Mae Holloway is a dancer, 'The Bachelor' alum, and influencer
• Alicia Mae Holloway has gained a significant following for sharing her adoption story of being born into an affair between a white woman and Black father.
• Alicia's forgiveness for her birth parents has caused her to receive backlash online

Many Bachelor Nation stans may remember Alicia Mae Holloway. In 2020, during the long-running dating competition’s 25th season, Alicia took a break from her career as a professional ballerina for the Dance Theatre of Harlem to vie for Matt James’ affection.

While Alicia didn’t get the final rose on The Bachelor, she has remained visible on social media, though for an entirely different reason.

In November 2023, Alicia’s TikTok account, where she discusses being a biracial woman adopted by white parents, caused a buzz on social media. So, who are Alicia’s parents? Here’s what we’ve uncovered!

Since gaining many followers from her time on The Bachelor, Alicia has been transparent about her family background. On her TikTok and Instagram accounts, the dancer, born Aug. 31, 1996, openly shares how she came to be adopted by her parents Evelyn and Kenneth Holloway.

In several TikToks and Instagram Reels, Alicia has said Evelyn, who is white, and Kenny, who is Black, discovered they couldn’t have any more children “way back in the ‘90s.” Although Alicia says her family was always “religious” during her childhood, she told her mom eventually sought a psychic about the situation.

The psychic reportedly led Alica’s parents to a small town in Pennsylvania, where they saw Alicia’s birth mother admitting that Alicia was the result of an affair. The woman, who was also white, had cheated on her husband with a Black man and had become pregnant.

Due to her already having three white children, the woman didn’t want to keep Alicia, who she reportedly said was “clearly not going to be white.” After hearing her testimony, Alicia’s parents, Evelyn and Kenneth, decided Alicia was their baby and took action toward adopting her.

The process reportedly didn’t take long, as Kenneth and Evelyn eventually raised Alicia.

On TikTok, Alicia shared in November 2023 that her biological mother told her husband about the infidelity, and they decided to tell their family Alicia died as a stillborn.

Alicia said her biological mother’s family has continued believing she was never born and that the family thought she was white. Nonetheless, she told Evelyn that she vowed to keep her birth mother in contact with her. She did so by sending Alicia’s bio mom updates “every six months” on Alicia’s developments.

However, because no one in the biological mother’s family knew she was alive and had been adopted, the mother requested that Evelyn send the photos to “her best friend,” who would pass them along to the bio mom.

“I didn’t realize this until I was about 18,” Alicia said. “So, I didn’t realize that my birth mom was watching me my whole life.”

After Alicia posted what she felt was a “sweet” act between her birth and adoptive mother, many social media users vehemently disagreed. Many people addressed the discriminatory and racist undertone of Alicia’s story, with several users noting the sad fact that Alicia’s adoptive mother and husband likely would’ve kept her if the mother had an affair with a white man.

“My racist, adulterous bio mom told everybody I was dead while she spied on me from afar with the help of my adoptive parents without my consent. How cute is that??” Therapy immediately,” one person wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“Lmao no fr what is beautiful about this?? She probably wanted to know what she looked like so she could avoid her,” another user stated.

“She's stronger than me,” a third user wrote.

Despite the harsh reactions Alicia has received for sharing her truth, the influencer has also gotten plenty of support from those who related to or sympathized with her story.

“She lost out….. thank god for your angel parents,” one commenter told Alicia of her birth mother.

“I can’t imagine how you feel. She cared so much about others opinions. Sending you hugs. You are so beautiful,” a second one shared.

Alicia seemingly doesn’t plan on letting a little social media shade stop her, either. She continues posting content about her adoption on Instagram and TikTok, including details on her relationship with her birth parents.

While she said in 2021 that she will always consider her adoptive parents, Kenneth and Evelyn, her “mom and dad,” she said she met her birth parents soon after she discovered she was adopted just before her 18th birthday. On the day before she turned 18, she said she found her mom and was stunned by their “similarities.” That same day, she found her birth father’s name and sent him a friend request on Facebook.

Alicia and her birth father, also named Kenneth, met for the first time in person in 2020. She also shared she has five other siblings, and she’s the oldest of Kenneth’s kids. And while she has yet to show her birth mother, she posted a video of both her dads on TikTok and her followers have said the fathers are “twins.”