‘Bachelorette’ Alum Blake Horstmann May Need Surgery After Being Attacked by a ‘Crazy Person’

Bachelor in Paradise alum Blake Horstmann may need surgery after he claims he was attacked in New York City by a “crazy person” while ringing in the new year. The reality TV star, who placed second on Becca Kufrin’s season of The Bachelorette in 2018 and also appeared on Bachelor in Paradise season 6, suffered a black eye and orbital fractures from the attack, which he claimed on his Instagram Story was unprompted.

“Unfortunately, I was in New York, and some crazy person decided to punch a bunch of us standing there, and I was on the wrong end of one of the punches, unfortunately, me and like four other people,” he explained on Monday. “Yeah, good start to the new year, happy new year.”

Horstmann later on Monday updated fans when informing them that he was “going to see a specialist.”

Speaking to PEOPLE of the injury, Horstmann said that he is “doing all right,” though he is sporting more than just a simple black eye.

“I have a fracture in my orbital floor and so I am waiting to hear if I will need surgery,” he told the outlet. “Have to let the swelling and bruising go down first.”

Hortsman had documented his night out in Times Square at the time, writing in a post that “2019 was a bumpy road. Mistakes were made and lessons learned. Never been more excited to ring in a new year…2020 is gonna be a good one.” At the time, he also teased in the hashtags “I have a black eye,” though he did not explain the circumstances around the injury.

Due to his injuries, the Bachelor Nation star explained on his Instagram Story that he likely would not be doing a lot of Bachelor recap for the premiere of Peter Weber’s season on Monday.

“I don’t know how much of the Bachelor breakdown I’ll be doing, ’cause I don’t think you guys are gonna want to look at my broken face all day,” he said. “It already looks a thousand times better than it did a couple days ago, but yeah, if I’m not doing a lot tonight for the recap of The Bachelor, that’s why.”

New episodes of The Bachelor air Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.