Emily Maynard

Emily Maynard is a reality TV personality best known for starring on season 8 of The Bachelorette. She was born and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia, and later moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. Maynard attended a private Christian high school but it is not clear if she pursued a college degree.

Maynard first gained national attention in 2011 as a contestant on season 15 of The Bachelor, where she got engaged to Brad Womack. Following their split, she was named the lead of The Bachelorette in 2012. Her season was filmed while she was a single mother, which became a central story line on the show.

After her appearances on The Bachelor franchise, Maynard made various media appearances and became a published author with her 2016 memoir, I Said Yes: My Story of Heartbreak, Redemption and True Love.

Maynard was previously engaged to NASCAR driver Ricky Hendrick, who died in a plane crash in 2004. She welcomed their daughter, Josephine Riddick “Ricki” Hendrick, the following year. In 2014, she married Tyler Johnson, and the couple has five children together: Jennings (born in 2015), Gibson (born in 2016), Gatlin (born in 2017), Magnolia (born in 2020) and Jones (born in 2022).