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When Sports Stars Get Real: 6 Athletes Who Found (and Lost) Love on Reality TV

With Jordan Rodgers the winner of this year's 'Bachelorette', we look at six other athletes who found love on reality TV.

 
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Jordan Rodgers - The Bachelorette (2016)

Jordan Rodgers - The Bachelorette (2016)
Rick Rowell/ABC via Getty Images

Monday night gave us a Bachelorette finale where Jordan Rodgers, brother of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and a sorta (but not really) quarterback himself got engaged to JoJo Fletcher in the season finale.

Fletcher actually had a choice between two athletes, with the second being former competitive swimmer Robby Hayes. Despite the available options, Fletcher opted for the higher cache, even Rodgers isn't quite an All-Pro.

Now that the happy couple are on their way, let's take a moment to remember some other athletes who found (and sometimes lost) love in a reality show.

 

 
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Jesse Palmer - The Bachelor (2004)

Jesse Palmer - The Bachelor (2004)
M. David Leeds/Getty Images

Drafted by the New York Giants with the 125th overall pick, Palmer was never in danger of setting the world on fire, but he did manage to set more than a few hearts on fire when he was selected as the first non-American 'Bachelor'.

 
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Jesse Palmer - The Bachelor (2004)

Jesse Palmer - The Bachelor (2004)
Michael Hickey/Getty Images

His tenure was marked with a few romantic faux pas, as he managed to forget the name of one contestant during a rose ceremony, but as with all bachelors, he found his one true love in Jessica Bowlin. Alas, that love was not built to last, as their relationship ended a few months after he gave the final rose.

 
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Jesse Palmer - The Bachelor (2004)

Jesse Palmer - The Bachelor (2004)
Norm Galai/Getty Images

For Palmer, life would go on, as his new-found popularity would parlay itself into a gig with ABC / ESPN after his retirement from the Canadian Football League, where he covers college football, leading to a high-profile spot calling games with Brent Musberger on the SEC Network.

 
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Chad Johnson - Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch (2010)

Chad Johnson - Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch (2010)
Michael Heiman/Getty Images

In 11 NFL seasons as a prolific wide receiver, Chad Johnson was never one to shy away from the limelight, and it was a give that he would be a natural in the reality TV world as well.

 
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Chad Johnson - Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch (2010)

Chad Johnson - Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch (2010)
Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images

In 2010, Johnson would catch the reality TV bug when he appeared on the 10th season of ABC's Dancing With the Stars. While he wouldn't be following Palmer's footsteps with an appearance on The Bachelor, Johnson landed his on dating show on VH1 called Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch. Eighty-five women were chosen to vie for Johnson's affections, with 69 girls eliminated on the very first show. When the smoke cleared, Rubi Pazmino survived the final cut, but like most reality matches, it wasn't long before she was gone with the wind.

 
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Chad Johnson - Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch (2010)

Chad Johnson - Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch (2010)
Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Despite reality TV love fizzling for Johnson, he would take another shot in 2012, this time dating and getting engaged to fellow reality TV personality Evelyn Lozada. Their brief, yet stormy courtship played itself out on her reality show, Basketball Wives, which aired on VH1.

 
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Ryan Lochte - What Would Ryan Lochte Do? (2013)

Ryan Lochte - What Would Ryan Lochte Do? (2013)
Joe Scarnici/Getty Images

Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte was no stranger to the limelight, appearing in three (not including this year's appearance in Rio) straight Olympics, where he would bring home 11 medals as a swimmer. His classic handsome looks and bro-charms would make him a natural for reality TV.


 
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Ryan Lochte - What Would Ryan Lochte Do? (2013)

Ryan Lochte - What Would Ryan Lochte Do? (2013)
D Dipasupil/Getty Images

Lochte would get his chance in 2013's What Would Ryan Lochte Do? While the short-lived E! series focused on Lochte's training for the 2016 Games, he also shared some of his extra curricular adventures, including trying to find lasting love.

 
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Ryan Lochte - What Would Ryan Lochte Do? (2013)

Ryan Lochte - What Would Ryan Lochte Do? (2013)
David Becker/Getty Images

Unfortunately for Lochte, he would get no gold medal for love as he found himself getting dumped over the phone by his girlfriend of four years, Jaimee Hollier during an episode. Although he was shaken at the time, chalking the breakup to busy schedules, it wasn't long before Lochte got back in the swing of things, where he now stands to add to his impressive medal count at the Rio games.

 
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Lamar Odom - Khloe and Lamar (2011)

Lamar Odom - Khloe and Lamar (2011)
Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic/Getty Images

When Lamar Odom met Khloe Kardashian in 2009, he was already a well-established personality in his own right, fresh off a championship run with the Los Angeles Lakers. Their chance meeting at a party thrown by fellow Laker Ron Artest (aka Metta World Peace) would lead to a whirlwind romance that would turn into marriage after only a month of dating.

 
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Lamar Odom - Khloe and Lamar (2011)

Lamar Odom - Khloe and Lamar (2011)
Gerardo Mora/Getty Images

The courtship and subsequent marriage was chronicled on the E! mega-hit Keeping Up With The Kardashians, where Odom became a fixture, so much so that he became known more for the show than for his still-active NBA career -- at least among the general public. E! would later give the seemingly happy couple their own spin-off show Khloe and Lamar.

 
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Lamar Odom - Khloe and Lamar (2011)

Lamar Odom - Khloe and Lamar (2011)
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Khloe and Lamar featured the couple and two of Odom's children from previous relationships. However, the demanding shooting schedule coupled with still playing basketball took a toll on Odom, and led to the cancellation of the show after only two seasons. Love for Khloe and Odom would also take a timeout, as the couple would sign (and later rescind) divorce papers in 2015 (and then again in 2016).

 
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Kris Humphries - Keeping Up With The Kardashians (2011)

Kris Humphries - Keeping Up With The Kardashians (2011)
Kevin Winter/NBC Universal/Getty Images

When it comes to careers in the NBA, Kris Humphries and Lamar Odom have very little in common, except where it comes to marrying a Kardashian. In 2010, the journeyman power forward would catch the eye of Kim Kardashian, leading to a reality TV event being billed as the "wedding of the century".

 
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Kris Humphries - Keeping Up With The Kardashians (2011)

Kris Humphries - Keeping Up With The Kardashians (2011)
Desiree Navarro/Getty Images

Paid for by E! as part of a Keeping Up With The Kardashians extravaganza, the multimillion-dollar wedding too place in August 2011. However by the time the two-part event aired in October 2011, the marriage was already strained, and by October 31, Kim filed for divorce after only 72 days of marriage.

 
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Kris Humphries - Keeping Up With The Kardashians (2011)

Kris Humphries - Keeping Up With The Kardashians (2011)
FOX Image Collection/Getty Images

Much like the rest of the world, Humphries smelled a rat, and filed a suit of his own, claiming that the marriage was a sham created for TV ratings (which it most likely was). After two years of public squabbling, the divorce was finally settled in 2013. Since then, Kim's moved on to marriage and children with musician Kanye West, and Humphries quietly resumed his journeyman NBA career with little fanfare, but plenty of peace of mind.

 
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Caitlyn Jenner - I Am Cait (2015)

Caitlyn Jenner - I Am Cait (2015)
John Shearer/Getty Images

Caitlyn Jenner has been no stranger to reality TV. Of all those on the list, Caitlyn is the former athlete who's spent the most time in front of reality cameras, as the latter-day patriarch of the Kardashians, married to Kris Jenner until her 2015 transition from Bruce to Caitlyn.

 
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Caitlyn Jenner - I Am Cait (2015)

Caitlyn Jenner - I Am Cait (2015)
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

While Bruce Jenner was mostly the butt of jokes on Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Caitlyn's story took a different turn when E! debuted I Am Cait, giving Jenner an opportunity to share her experiences as she virtually transitioned in front of cameras, and in the process ending her marriage to Kris.

 
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Caitlyn Jenner - I Am Cait (2015)

Caitlyn Jenner - I Am Cait (2015)
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

I Am Cait premiered to great interest and solid ratings, but E! declined to renew it for a third season as interest waned, largely due to accusations that the show fell below expectations. Despite the cancellation, the show and Jenner were hailed for bringing transgender issues to light while also showing audiences how love and relationships transition as gender does.

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