Tyler Cameron draws crowd to talk about life before ‘The Bachelorette’
Tyler Cameron draws crowd to talk about life before 'The Bachelorette'
Syracuse University students poured into Goldstein Auditorium on Saturday night for Orange After Dark’s event “An Evening with Tyler Cameron.”
Cameron is best known for being the runner-up on season 15 of ABC’s reality television show The Bachelorette. The season, which starred Hannah Brown as the Bachelorette, aired from May 13 to July 30, 2019, with Cameron featured in all 13 episodes. The Jupiter, Florida native now models with Soul Artist Management, works with ABC Food Tours and lives in New York City.
The crowd in Goldstein Auditorium was three-quarters full more than 15 minutes before the scheduled start time of 10 p.m. When Cameron strolled onto the stage, the 27-year old was met with raucous cheers from an audience largely comprised of women. The event was free for anybody with a valid Syracuse student ID.
“I’m a huge fan of The Bachelorette and he was one of my favorite contestants last season,” SU senior Isabel Reedy said. “He seemed like a really genuine guy and was a really respectful guy, something a lot of the other contestants weren’t.”
Cameron answered questions from the event host and attendees during the hour-long talk. He started the night by discussing his TikTok from Saturday morning in which he claimed “he wasn’t going” to Syracuse that night because of minus four-degree weather. Cameron donned a navy blue Syracuse sweatshirt, which he gifted to a random student toward the end of the event, and a navy blue Syracuse t-shirt. In his parting words with the crowd, he asked where on SU’s campus he should go afterward.
@tylerjcameron3When Alexa tells you it’s too cold to go to Syracuse. -4 degrees is a no from me. Will I make it? #fyp #foryourpage #TheReplay #cold♬ original sound – tylerjcameron3
Cameron then answered questions about his upbringing, life before appearing on The Bachelorette, and how he managed to land a spot on the show. He delved into his college football career, which began as a quarterback at Wake Forest University before transferring to Florida Atlantic University. Cameron was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Baltimore Ravens in 2017 but was released soon after.
Originally, Cameron’s application to appear on The Bachelorette was not serious. His friends encouraged him to apply, he was contacted by ABC but did not reply to their emails. Eventually, Cameron went on a Skype call with a representative from the show and accepted a spot for season 15.
“I didn’t really care, it wasn’t a priority,” Cameron said during the event. “Apparently [the Skype call] went well. It just snowballed from there.”
Cameron continued to answer miscellaneous questions and even got up to dance, inviting a girl from the crowd to join him on stage. This gesture was denied by event security. Throughout the hour-plus talk, the host and audience members seemed eager to learn about Cameron’s relationship status, which he insisted was “single.”
The final 20 minutes of the event saw Cameron answer questions from cards filled out by audience members. SU senior Liam McGhee jokingly filled out a card asking, “How do I get on The Bachelorette?” and it was selected. Cameron’s answer: be yourself.
“I thought his response was pretty thought out for being asked on the spot,” McGhee said. “Just when he’s talking straight to you, you get a little starstruck for a second. It was 50 percent starstruck, 50 percent funny.”
Despite the event ending more than 45 minutes before the scheduled end time of midnight, Cameron was met with more passionate cheers and applause as he walked off the stage. As he did, he insisted it would not be his last time in Syracuse.
is a contributor to The NewsHouse and senior in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
