Kelsey Toussant From 'The Bachelor' Grew Up in a Very Religious Household

There's just something about Joey, The Bachelor's Season 28 lead, that makes his ladies want to open up to him. And judging by every successful date that follows these big conversations, we'd say it's not a bad thing at all. In the Feb. 19, 2024, episode of The Bachelor, Kelsey Toussant does just that when she uses her one-on-one with Joey as an opportunity to share details about her relationship with her dad.

Sharing these important bits of information, from family dynamics to health struggles, is nothing new in The Bachelor franchise. But Kelsey's openness about her dad and her relationship with her family as a whole says a lot about who she is. And, judging by her connection with The Bachelor lead, it says a lot about their growing relationship too.

Kelsey reveals to Joey in the Feb. 19, 2024, episode for Week 6 that she and her dad haven't been super close for a long time. In fact, they hadn't been calling and talking to each other regularly for very long at the time of filming. And it's all because of a falling out that Kelsey and her father had when she was younger.

She explains to Joey that she grew up in an extremely religious household. According to Kelsey, her dad remained strictly religious even when her ideas about her life direction changed. But, she tells Joey, when she realized she wanted a future with an education, something that wasn't possible under her father's thumb and within the religion, she broke ties with her dad to pursue that and live with her mom.

As a result, things aren't as solid with Kelsey's dad as she might want them to be. He is still in her life, and he can be found in photos here and there on Kelsey's Instagram. However, that relationship and the details surrounding it are a point of contention for Kelsey on The Bachelor.

When Kelsey shares with Joey that the religion she and her family followed is what held her back and what drove a wedge between herself and her dad, she doesn't explain what the religion is. But in a 2019 interview with Voyage LA, Kelsey opened up a bit more about her family's religion from when she was growing up.

Kelsey was a Jehovah's Witness growing up. "When high school came around, I joined a theater class and that's when I realized I wanted to pursue creativity for the rest of my life. At the same time, I was a full-blown Jehovah's Witness and I knew the two couldn't co-exist," she told Voyage LA. "So I decided to leave the religion and set my focus on attending California State University, Northridge."

The extent of Kelsey's religious background goes even further than what she explains to Joey on The Bachelor. When she spoke with Voyage LA, she said that she was "so separated from society" when she was deep within the religion that she "had to play catch up" with mainstream media, movies, and pop culture.

Kelsey was drawn to theater and performing from a young age. And, although she does appear to be on The Bachelor for the right reasons, she is also an actor. According to Kelsey's IMDb, she was in some heavy hitters like the movies Barbie and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, as well as the TV show How I Met Your Father.

After learning that Kelsey was part of the Barbie movie, many fans were wondering who exactly she was in the film.

Kelsey played the role of Miss Universe Jamaica in Barbie. In an Instagram post about the shoot, Kelsey shared her enthusiasm for the part, saying, "I had so much fun as Miss Universe Jamaica!!"

Even though Kelsey loves to act, it seems that she isn't playing a part while on The Bachelor. She is all about Joey.

Watch The Bachelor on Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.