The Bachelor season 29 contestant Zoe McGrady has been candid with Grant Ellis about how her upbringing has shaped her.
“I was actually adopted,” Zoe said on the January 2024 episode of the “Miss Represented” podcast. “I have to preface that because everyone sees my parents and they’re like, ‘Wait what?’ So I was adopted by two white people and I’m obviously a mixed woman and so is my sister who’s also adopted. We grew up in a pretty small all-white town in the South.”
While opening up to Grant during a group date, Zoe shared that she’s been told she’s a “bit difficult to read” — which she claimed is due to her childhood and “being from the South, being a person of color and being a woman who was never told she was beautiful.”
“But, I think the reason I’m so stoic and I guess hard to read — I told you I was adopted and raised in southern Virginia. It was predominately white and it was just me and my sister. We’re both mixed, we’re adopted by the same parents. Just my entire life I just felt like the black sheep,” Zoe told Grant, who shared in a confessional that her story made him feel “so much compassion” for her. “Knowing what she went through in her childhood and now seeing the woman she’s become, and how she approaches every obstacle, that’s somebody that I can resonate with.”
Scroll down to meet Zoe’s family:
Zoe’s Parents
While opening up about being adopted by her parents, Zoe said on the January 2024 episode of the “Miss Represented” podcast that people would stare at her family growing up.
“Like, they didn’t know what was going on as far as our family dynamics and just just being one of the few people of color down there just made things a bit difficult at times,” Zoe said. “Being Black, being interested in STEM and Science and Math and stuff, I just was always kind of the black sheep of my hometown.”
Related: ‘The Bachelor’ Season 29 Lead Grant Ellis’ Family Guide
Bachelor Grant Ellis is not forgetting his roots while he looks for The One. “They’re really supportive,” Grant exclusively told Us Weekly of his parents and sister ahead of the season 29 premiere in January 2025. “My family has been through a lot together, and it’s really crazy that we still support each other in […]
Zoe’s Sister
Zoe shared on the January 2024 episode of the “Miss Represented” podcast that she and her sister Faith McGrady, are adopted.
Zoe and her sister have frequently gushed over each other on social media. “You are so incredible, my sister. I couldn’t be more proud of anyone in my life. Resilient. 🫶🏽,” Faith commented on Zoe’s January Instagram video, to which Zoe replied, “love you sister 🤎🤎🤎.”
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