Aaron Rodgers Addresses Strained Relationship with Brother Jordan Following ‘Bachelorette’ Drama
Aaron Rodgers has mixed feelings about “The Bachelorette” eight years after his estranged brother, Jordan Rodgers, won season 12 of the ABC show and married JoJo Fletcher.
During his recently released Netflix docuseries, “Aaron Rodgers: Enigma,” the Jets quarterback discussed his rocky connection with his family — and recalled when they were featured on “The Bachelorette” during Fletcher’s hometown dates in 2016.
“It’s not like I was particularly close to everyone in the family. “I was close to my little brother,” Aaron, 41, said of Jordan, 36, in episode two of the series, which began airing on Tuesday.
Rodgers stated that he “was quiet about” his family because “I thought the best way to do it was just don’t talk about it publicly.”
When Fletcher’s season of “The Bachelorette” aired, Rodgers made waves for being significantly absent from a family meeting during the hometown dates, which featured their parents, Ed and Darla, as well as oldest sibling Luke Rodgers and his fiancée.
In a scene shot at Rodgers’ parents’ home in Chico, California, the family dined together at a table with two open chairs reserved for Rodgers, who was playing for the Packers, and his then-girlfriend, actress Olivia Munn.
“So what do they do? “They put on a bullshit show and leave two empty chairs,” Rodgers said.
Fletcher admitted the family split in a confessional at the time.
“[Jordan] comes from such an amazing family with so much love and so much character — but sitting down at that table, there are two empty seats and I know that they probably wish Aaron was sitting in one of them,” he remarked.
“It’s difficult because that’s Jordan’s brother, Luke’s brother, and Ed and Darla’s son. I have no idea, and I can’t imagine why Aaron wouldn’t want to be a part of their life.
Jordan, a former Vanderbilt quarterback who briefly played in the NFL before pursuing a career in sports broadcasting, married Fletcher in 2022.
Rodgers went on to say that he is open to reconciliation with his family.
“People ask me, ‘Is there any possibility for reconciliation?’ I respond, ‘Yes, of course. “Of course,” Rodgers stated on the Netflix episode. “I don’t want them to fail, struggle, or experience any conflict or problems. I have no ill will against them whatsoever. It’s more like this: we’re merely different steps in our respective paths.”
“But, in reality, it stems from high school experiences that made me feel detached. Stuff in college; stuff after college.”