Kelsey Bateman, who appeared as a contestant on Bret Michaels‘ reality show Rock of Love in 2009, has reportedly died. She was 39.
The passing was first announced by TMZ, which reported that a family source told them “Kelsey passed away unexpectedly recently.” An exact date of Bateman’s death and the cause were not provided.
Bateman appeared in Season 3 of the VH1 dating game show, titled Rock of Love Bus with Bret Michaels. In the series, Bateman and other women lived on tour buses and travelled with the Poison frontman as they competed for his attention and affection.
After making it to the Top 10 of the season, Bateman was ultimately eliminated in the seventh episode, with Michaels stating that she was too young and couldn’t handle the pressure of the show. In the episode, Bateman had left in the middle of one of Michaels’ concerts and had a drunken meltdown.
Kelsey Lee Bateman Facebook
“I ended up laying on a speed bump bawling my eyes out, but you know what? I’m here and I’m ready for whatever Bret has to say to me,” she said in a confessional on the show at the time, as seen in a YouTube clip.
Born and raised near Salt Lake City, Utah, Bateman was just 21 when she joined the show. Following her brief stint on reality television, she moved to Draper, Utah, and lived a quieter life away from the cameras.
“I’m going to go home and I’m going to be single. I’m not going to think about guys for a while, but the next guy I find definitely won’t be 44 and probably not a rock star,” Bateman said in an exit confessional following her elimination on the show.
According to her LinkedIn profile, where she used the name Kelsey Passey, she had worked as a senior sales lead at Vox Nutrition Inc. since 2016, overseeing day-to-day account management while managing a team of junior sales representatives. Before that, she served as an executive administrator at C7 Data Centers.