A former classmate of Charlie O’Connell claims TV’s new Bachelor ruined his life by terrorizing him during their school days.
Raymond Collins, 29, and Charlie both attended the private Bergen School together in Jersey City, N.J., when they were teenagers.
In an exclusive interview with The National Enquirer, Raymond said: “I’ll never forget when I saw Charlie O’Connell’s face on TV for the first time. I was in total shock. I couldn’t believe he was on The Bachelor — not after what I experienced in high school.
“This was a person who subjected me and others to constant harassment, verbal terrorism, racial epithets and even physical violence.”
Charlie, the younger brother of actor Jerry O’Connell, is the current star of ABC’s seventh series of The Bachelor.
“There were times when I feared for my life. Not one day went by that I wasn’t verbally harassed about my weight or ethnicity,” Raymond revealed.
“Charlie constantly called me fat and made fun of my national origin. He was always calling me ‘Juan Valdez’ like the character for Colombian coffee TV commercials. To him there was no difference between Puerto Ricans, Colombians or any other Latino ethnic group.
“I couldn’t let him see me eat lunch help of two of his henchmen. Luckily my friend pulled me back before I fell down the hill. I could have been seriously injured or even died.”
Raymond claims that since seeing Charlie on The Bachelor he has suffered severe nightmares about his school days.
“I’ve been reliving high school all over again. My wife wakes me up in the middle of my nightmares because she says she can’t stand the screaming.
“But I have forgiven Charlie; my faith says I have to. If I had anything to say to anyone bullied by him or anyone else it would be ‘Let go and Let God.’ ”
