Jade Roper and Tanner Tolbert went from the fantasy suite to fantasy football, but it may not pan out well for them. The Bachelor In Paradise couple, who married in a TV wedding officiated by veteran Bachelor host Chris Harrison, are being accused of collusion after a $1 million fantasy football win.
Jade Roper Tolbert won a $1 million prize in a DraftKings “Millionaire Maker” fantasy football event over the weekend, but TMZ reports that she is now facing cheating allegations in the contest.
Jade submitted the maximum 150 entries when selecting lineups of players from the four NFL Wild Card games over the weekend. She paid $20 for each of her entries, with lineups including Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson and Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf.
After the rankings were posted, Jade confirmed it was indeed her when a Twitter user noted that a Bachelor alum was the winner of the jackpot. She joked that she was glad she didn’t listen when her husband told her not to play Metcalf.
The Bachelor in Paradise alum later took to Twitter to post a screenshot of her ranking in the draft as she confirmed her $1 million win to her fans.
“Doesn’t even feel real over here! Officially speechless. LIKE WHAAAAAAAAT,” the reality star wrote of her windfall.
But Jade’s Bachelor Nation celebrity status caught the eye of some fantasy football experts who alleged that her lineups coordinated with her husband’s 150 entries. Some called out the couple for the “collusion” in an alleged attempt to mathematically maximize their chances of winning the $1 million payout.
According to Yahoo Sports , collusion between two players to build lineups is a DraftKings no-no. Out of Jade and Tanner’s 300 combined entries, 298 of them were unique, which hints that the couple may have coordinated their picks.
Jade’s husband Tanner denied allegations of collusion to ESPN.
“We each put in our separate players, in our separate accounts and rooted for own players,” Tanner said, per Yahoo . “No one has ever said a peep about us when we lost for 17 straight weeks. Then, of course, somehow Jade picked the right lineup, got the million and the spotlight got shown on it. And people, especially since she’s a woman, assume that I do it all for her. If I had won, I bet no one would’ve raised a flag.”
In a statement to TMZSports , a rep for DraftKings revealed they are conducting an investigation into the matter. It is possible that Jade’s win could be revoked if it is proven that she violated the rules of the contest.