Kelley Flanagan and Kelsey Weier have been friends for a while now, and the two share photos and updates together whenever they’re hanging out.
But a recent Instagram story has sparked a lot of anger from Bachelor Nation fans. The two women opened up about a “prank” they play in order to get a good parking spot, and fans were upset and assumed they were mocking disabled people.
Source: Instagram @kelleyflanagan
During an Instagram Q&A, Kelley Flanagan revealed that she and Kelsey Weier play a strange joke with one another.
“What’s the funniest prank you’ve played on someone?” an Instagram follower asked.
“Not much of a prank but I always make @kelsey_weier limp so we can get good parking,” she wrote. “And don’t come at me parking police.”
In the video she shared, Kelsey was saying “Am I doing okay?” as Kelley encouraged her to keep limping.
But Kelley realized fans were not thrilled with this post, and she quickly apologized.
“Ok, many have asked about the parking spot story in my DMs so I’ll give you the full story because I think some assumptions are being made,” Kelley wrote in a follow-up Instagram story.
She continued:
The parking manager was in on it and told us to park left and I said what about those spots over there? And said what if my friend has a sprained ankle? He laughed and said go ahead, y’all can park there. Again, it was a joke, was not making fun of anyone or taking a disabled spot. It was a regular spot but just in a different area. We were all aware that it was a joke and not serious. I hope you guys have a great night and nothing about this was ever ill willed, intended to do something illegal or mock anyone.
Last year, Kelley opened up about her Lyme disease diagnosis.
“Hey guys, just got some not so good news,” Kelley shared on Instagram on August 30, 2021. The Bachelor star then revealed that her understanding of her health has drastically changed.
“I know I’ve shared so many of my health tips and tricks, have always told you that my body is super sensitive and I’ve always knew something was a little bit off,” Kelley wrote in the caption of her video. “When I would consistently see how my body would react to things compared to family/friends, I decided to finally get tested for serval different things and tested positive for Lyme disease and several other co-infections.”
She wrote:
It’s a blessing and a curse because now I can target why I feel off so often but also means several different lifestyle changes and extensive research on how to help/hopefully cure this! I know this is going to be tough for me seeing what my brothers have gone through mentally and physically but I’m going to put so much of my time and energy into figuring this out and combatting this. Love all of you and let’s take on this new journey.
Kelley was extremely emotional as she discussed her health in the video. She also revealed that her brothers also have Lyme disease.
“A lot of their symptoms sounded like really similar to me, ’cause I’ve always had something off since I’ve been young and really, really had to take care of myself,” she said. “It’s not the end of the world, but it’s definitely gonna be a lot of changes. And I guess I’m just gonna incorporate you guys in it. Didn’t really know how else to do this.”
According to the CDC, Lyme is spread through tick bites and is diagnosed symptomatically. Other celebrities such as Avril Lavigne, Alec Baldwin, Amy Schumer, Justin Bieber, and Shania Twain also suffer from Lyme disease.