Ryan Lochte Was Contractually Obligated to Appear Single By One of His Sponsors

Ryan Lochte got engaged to girlfriend Kayla Rae Reid earlier this month. It seemed the engagement was a bit rushed. They only went public in September and Lochte had mentioned using Tinder at the Olympics. Well, what if I told you that was all a farce and Ryan Lochte was just playing the role of a single guy? Via NY Mag:

"The couple have been together ten months, which may come as a surprise to those who saw Lochte on the Today show in August talking about Tindering in Rio. At the time, Lochte says, he was under contractual obligation to present himself as single, though he won’t say for what company."

Dumb like a sponsored fox. If not for that late night in Rio, we might have known which sponsor wanted Lochte single.

August 5th – Lochte “exposed” as a Tinder user.
August 10th – Reid told the Daily Mail about their relationship.
August 14th – Gas station incident in Rio.
August 22nd – Lochte dumped by 4 major sponsors.

The Rio gas station incident debilitated the brand, leaving nothing but the person, and now he’s forced to live the rest of his life with a girl he’s been dating for 10 months, instead of two months. The most heartbreaking part for corporate America is that Lochte was one of the low scores on Dancing With the Stars last week. He’s 32 and four years away from the possibility of another Olympic games. Who knows how much of the brand even remains to manipulate.