Greg Grippo appears to have Katie Thurston under his spell on The Bachelorette's currently-airing seventeenth season.
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RELATED LINK: MEET ALL OF KATIE THURSTON'S 'THE BACHELORETTE' SEASON 17 BACHELORS (PHOTOS)
Greg told Katie that he felt like he was in high school again because he constantly thought about her and the connection they shared. Greg said it was a strange feeling to have his mind race all the time, and Katie believed that what Greg was saying was true and real.
"You're not putting on an act; you're just authentic. You shared a lot with me, and I think even that made us a lot closer," Katie shared with Greg during a group date.
"I think obviously I have to seek this out to the very end, and if it's something you and I can get through together, it says a lot. It says that I'm starting to fall for you."
Greg said he was feeling the same way, even though the process was so early on.
"I feel amazing around her, and I haven't felt this way in a really long time. I'm crazy about the girl," Greg gushed in a confessional.
So will Greg go all the way and be Katie's last man standing, or will one of Katie's other connections begin to shine and surpass the depth of Katie's relationship with her early frontrunner?
Until viewers can watch more of Katie and Greg's love story unfold on The Bachelorette, let's learn some information about this handsome suitor right now.
Below is a list of nine facts Reality TV World has compiled about Greg Grippo.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Greg Grippo was initially considered for Clare Crawley's The Bachelorette season!
In March 2020, ABC announced 32 potential suitors who may compete for Clare's heart on The Bachelorette's sixteenth season -- and Greg was one of them!
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOWFilming was then postponed for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, so ABC released a revised list of 42 bachelors who may get the chance to date Clare on The Bachelorette in July 2020.
The show reportedly gathered extra men in case one or several of them tested positive for COVID-19 during the quarantine period.
Greg was not among those 42 suitors, and it's possible ABC cut him because he was 26 years old at the time and the network was trying to cast older men for Clare, who was 39 years old at the time, to satisfy the lead's expectations.
Greg could have been booted from the cast for a number of reasons, but it's also possible he chose to withdraw himself, maybe due to work requirements preventing him from being able to take Summer 2020 off to film.
ABC later announced Clare's official cast of 31 bachelors in September, a couple of weeks before Season 16 premiered on October 13.
Greg considers himself to be a hopeless romantic
The bachelor's idea of a first date would be something active such as riding bikes, dancing or going to a concert.Greg claims he's ready to find that special person to grow old with and treat like a queen.
According to ABC, Greg is "the full package" in that he's "handsome, kind, vulnerable and serious about wanting to settle down."
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Greg looks forward to having a big -- or rather huge -- family!
Greg says he isn't rushing to have kids, as he'd like to travel the world with his wife before completely settling down and starting a family.However, Greg doesn't want just one or two kids when that time comes. Instead, he wants to have at least six children!
The Bachelorette suitor is family-oriented
Greg says he's extremely close with his family. He has a brother Joe as well as a sister Samantha.Greg has high standards for a healthy, happy and successful marriage thanks to being raised by his parents, who showed him what love looks like.
Greg's father, however, sadly passed away from cancer two years ago.
"One day we're at a Knicks game and the next day I'm getting a call that he has Stage IV cancer and that he has a month to live," Greg said on The Bachelorette.
The Bachelorette bachelor didn't stay in New Jersey for college
Formally known as Gregory James Grippo, he attended Saint Michael's College in Vermont, where he majored in Business and minored in Gender Studies.Greg has some athletic skills to show off to Katie!
The bachelor, standing 6'3," tall played basketball all four years of his college career.Greg shot 795 points during his time on the Purple Knights team, and he scored 289 of those points his senior year. Greg also served as team caption his senior year before graduating in 2016.
Greg reveals his weakness, biggest pet peeve and dream!
Greg says he cries during movies and isn't ashamed of that, and his biggest pet peeve is slow drivers.As for a dream he'd love to achieve, Greg hopes to one day see Lebron James play basketball in person.
Greg has been accused of trying to "pull a fast one" on Katie and The Bachelorette viewers
A source says Greg is "lying" about his career as a marketing sales representative and is actually an "actor" who is "seeking fame," according to The Sun.ADVERTISEMENT
The source told The Sun that acting is Greg's "passion" and he's not being truthful about his career and intentions on the show.
"He's always wanted to pursue an on-camera career," claimed the insider.
Greg also apparently graduated from William Esper Studio, an NYC acting school, in 2019, and the show has made no mention of it. There is also no mention of Greg having attended this school on his public accounts.
Greg's LinkedIn page says Greg only began working for Mondo marketing in November 2020, meaning he became an employee at the company only a few months before leaving to film for The Bachelorette this year.
Spoiler alert! There appears to be some bad blood between Greg and Katie now
Katie was caught "liking" and later "unliking" a meme that reads, "When the guy next to you is getting interrogated about wanting to be [The Bachelor star] and you've gotta pretend to be disgusted while hiding your acting career aspirations," according to Us Weekly.The meme featured Greg putting his hand over his face in distress and was posted by The Bachelor Season 22 alum Bekah Martinez's podcast "Chatty Broads" on June 22.
The photo of Greg appearing to be annoyed was in reference to a scene that aired on the June 21 episode of The Bachelorette episode in which Thomas Jacobs admitted during a group date he had signed up for the show to promote his career and have a platform.
Katie also subsequently took to her Instagram Stories and posted a video of herself listening to Olivia Rodrigo's breakup anthem "Traitor," which many fans believed was The Bachelorette star slamming Greg once again.
However, Greg's family apparently has his back!
After Katie reportedly "liked" and "unliked" the meme about Greg's shady aspirations to become an actor, Greg's sister Samantha Collova reportedly dished it right back to Katie.
The Bachelor fan Instagram account @Bachelorteaspill posted a screenshot of Samantha's since-deleted comment that reportedly read, "@thekatiethurston likes this post but was such a supporter of removing the toxicity and mean girls when she was on [Matt James]'s season, you'd think if those intentions [were] genuine she'd had just as much of an issue with this post as well."
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Bekah -- who competed for Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s heart on The Bachelor's 22nd season -- made it known, however, her meme about Greg was intended to be light-hearted and funny.
In the face of backlash, Bekah wrote in the comments section of her meme post, "IT'S A JOKE PEOPLE, I WENT ON THE SHOW 4 CLOUT TOO OKAY. I JUST HATE GREG."
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
