Bachelor Brad Womack Admits to Criminal Past

Bachelor Brad Womack's past is coming back to bite him. This time, Brad Womack isn't dealing with the fallout of his first run as The Bachelor. Now he's having to deal with reports of his criminal past.

Star Magazine was the first to report Womack's criminal past. Womack's past indiscretions include arrests for carrying a forged driver's license, public intoxication, and even passing a bad check.

Womack was born Stephen Bradley Womack. His police report also includes the name Stephen Bradley Picklesimer, the surname of his then-stepfather.

Womack has owned up to his criminal past, and has been open about the fact that he sees a therapist. Of course, Bachelor fans saw Womack's therapist in a very different context.

On the pilot episode of this season's Bachelor, Brad spoke about father issues and how his past caused him to put up walls in previous relationships. And in the last episode, we saw Womack asking his therapist for advice on how to choose the right woman. The therapist had advised Brad to make her feel comfortable so that she would show her true self to him.

As one friend told Star Magazine, "I know a lot of people who think Brad's crazy. He's admitted publicly that he's been in therapy for years. Clearly, he's had a lot of demons to deal with in his life - and not just romantically."

News of Brad Womack's criminal past may not be such a bad thing for the show. The Bachelor franchise has been heavily promoting the idea of "redemption" in Womack's second run on the program. Seeing that Brad is genuinely penitent about his past mistakes gives fans more reasons to root for him.

Last time on The Bachelor, fans vilified Womack as a commitment-phobic jerk. This time, he is really coming across as a sincere guy who is seeking public "redemption."

And the fact that Womack has a less-than-stellar past also makes him more compassionate and less judgmental toward the women he dates. In the last episode of The Bachelor, many of the women confided stories of personal mistakes, troubled family lives, and stories of personal tragedy. More than any other Bachelor, Womack went out of his way to show that he cared.

Emily, one of The Bachelor contestants, commented that other guys have shut down when she told them about her past, but telling Brad only brought them closer together.

Hopefully Womack's criminal past is behind him for good and he'll be able to find redemption--in love as well as other areas of his life.