How The Bachelorette’s Michael Allio Rebuilt His Faith After Losing His Wife

Michael Allio is doing two things at once: raising his son and turning a brutal loss into something that might help other families. And he is very open about what gets him through it.

Faith, grief, and a kids book

While promoting his debut children's book, "Where the Wild Heart Grows," the 41-year-old Bachelor Nation alum said he leans on visualization and his faith when the grief hits. He talks about picturing a reunion with his late wife, Laura Ritter-Allio, and how that belief steadies him.

"I know for a fact I'm going to see Laura again... and that brings me relief."

Life after losing Laura

Laura died in January 2019 at 33 after a long fight with breast cancer. In the aftermath, Michael focused hard on their son, James, who was 2 at the time. He made a promise to build a life full of memories worth sharing — the kind of stories he imagines Laura would want to hear — instead of disappearing into the couch and letting grief make the rules. He says cancer drilled one lesson into him: stop pretending there is more time. You don't have to be fully healed to start living again; you just have to start.

What the book is actually about

"Where the Wild Heart Grows" isn't just cute animals and bedtime rhymes. It digs into courage, loss, and how you grow through the hard stuff. It also plays with the idea of seasons — how life shifts and you shift with it. Heavy for a kids book? Maybe. But he's not talking down to anyone.

At home, that approach looks like this: he doesn't try to teach James to dodge pain; he teaches him to move through it. He's honest about his own rough days, too, which he says has made their bond stronger and their house feel like a safe place to land.

Faith, but with some nuance

Michael was raised Catholic and recently became his niece's godfather. He goes to church with James, but he'll also tell you his faith has its ups and downs. What matters to him is showing up for his kid and keeping Laura part of the conversation. He's careful not to dump his grief on James — the boy was two when she died, after all — and he doesn't want him feeling guilty for the memories he doesn't have. What James does hear: that they'll see Laura again, and that she's watching over them, along with the other people they've lost.

Where they are now

If you remember him from TV, that tracks: Michael showed up on Katie Thurston's season of "The Bachelorette" (season 17) in 2021, then did "Bachelor in Paradise" the following year. Offscreen, James is now in 3rd grade and their calendar is stacked with karate, baseball, and basketball. Michael jokes "He got his mom's brains," and describes him as funny and relentlessly curious. The house rules he's trying to pass down are simple: be kind, stay curious, ask questions, try on someone else's perspective before you judge, and be gentle.

"Where the Wild Heart Grows" is available online now.