Jenn Tran Is 'The Bachelorette's First Asian Lead For Season 21
As Bachelor Nation bid farewell to Joey Graziadei’s season of The Bachelor, thoughts have already turned to what's next.
So...what will happen on the next season of The Bachelorette? While ABC hasn’t announced the cast just yet, we do know which lovely lady will lead us through her journey to everlasting love next season, and that is Jenn Tran.
While this has been a bit of a plot twist for Bach nation (more on that in a sec), Jenn, 25, makes history as the first Asian American Bachelorette and seems ready to find love.
Here’s everything you need to know about Jenn and why Bachelorette fans may be surprised by the choice.
People thought the new Bachelorette would be Daisy Kent.
If you’re new to Bach Nation, the new Bachelorette is usually one of the runners-up from the previous season of The Bachelor—and vice versa. Joey is the runner-up in Charity Lawson’s season.
Most pundits—including Reality Steve—were expecting either runner-up Daisy Kent or fan favorite Maria Georgas to be the lead for the next season.
On After the Final Rose, host Jesse Palmer brought out Daisy and asked if she was ready to be the next Bachelorette. She declined.
“My life, the last year, has been crazy. I mean, yesterday, it’s weird. It was the one year of me getting my cochlear implant, which completely changed my life,” Daisy said, per Us Weekly. Daisy lost her hearing amidst a battle with Lyme disease.
“Right now, I know it’s a time for me to focus on the things I love and the people I love. And so right now, no, I’m not ready,” Daisy said. “And that’s OK. And I’m really proud of myself for realizing that.”
Jenn is 25 and lives in Miami.
Jenn is 25 years old and currently lives in Miami. She is “ready to find love with a man who’s as reliable and thoughtful as she is,” according to her bio on ABC’s website.
Here's Jenn:
What happened with Jenn during Joey's season?
Jenn made it to the final six this season. But was sent home before the hometown dates.
She definitely made a big impression from night one. During the first episode, she even rolled up to Bachelor Mansion in a Go-Kart, likely a series first!
She has a one-on-one date with Joey where they went surfing which was honestly pretty cute.
Jenn is the first Asian American Bachelorette.
Jenn, who is Vietnamese, will be the first Asian American woman to lead the franchise.
"I feel so so grateful and so honored to be the first Asian bachelorette in this franchise," Jenn said last night. "Growing up, I've always wanted to see Asian representation on TV. And I feel like it was really sparse. Any time Asians were in the media, it was to fill a supporting character role, to fulfill some sort of stereotype, and I felt really boxed in by that because I was like, 'I don't see myself on screen. I don't see myself as a main character.'"
She continued, "And now to be here today standing in this position being like, 'I am going to lead my own love story. I am going to be the main character to my story,' I just can't help but think about how many people I'm inspiring and how many lives I'm changing."
Jenn is studying to become a physician’s assistant
Jenn is a PA student and had to ask her school for permission before she went on the show, she explained on Instagram.
“No, I did not drop out of school to do this,” Jenn said in the video. She explained that she spoke to her academic advisor, who was supportive and allowed her to adjust her schedule and put some of her required rotations on hold to accommodate her filming schedule for The Bachelor.
“I was really lucky, and I can’t thank them enough for being so supportive,” she said in the video.
Jenn recently shared a day in her life while on a general surgery rotation, so it seems like she jumped right back into school after filming.
On After The Final Rose, Jenn told Jesse that the previous day, she was in the ER in scrubs. Tonight, she begins filming The Bachelorette.
Jenn is estranged from her dad.
In episode three, she opened up to Joey about her family life. She says her father slept in her family's basement for six years due to constant fighting with her mom. Eventually, her dad left the family.
"I've been in a few bad relationships in the past, and I definitely went through periods where I thought that I was never going to be loved and I'd never find anybody. And that's because of the way I grew up with my family," she told Joey.
She's working on her relationship with her mom.
In the March 18 Women Tell All episode, she gave viewers an update on how things stand with her mother.
Their "adult relationship has been a little bit (estranged) just because I think in Asian culture, you live with your parents until you're married and even after you're married, sometimes," Jenn said. "She's never really seen me as a full adult. But watching me on TV and watching me fall in love, she's really just seen me grow into my own and it's been monumental for our relationship because I can feel her see my as my own person."
"She is the woman I want to be when I grow up," she said of her mom. "She came here from Vietnam, and she left medical school to give my brother and I a better life. And when my dad left, she took on the role of two parents and never complained once."
Jenn's hobbies include, reading, paddleboarding, and listening to Shawn Mendes.
One of Jenn’s fun facts in her bio is that Shawn Mendes’ music regularly makes her cry. Perhaps that gives viewers a clue about what she’s looking for in her season?
She says she likes to read and her favorite book is The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. In her spare time, she loves to paddleboard.
When will the next season of ‘The Bachelorette’ start filming?
Reality Steve, who is the king of all things Bachelor spoilers, says filming is happening ASAP. He said limo entrances for the new season will happen today, March 26.
Then, after the premiere, the cast will be taken to the sunny Oceania, where Steve says their first stops are are in Australia and New Zealand. Steve confirmed that the series will come back to film in an American city at the end of April but didn’t reveal which one.
When will 'The Bachelorette' premiere?
The exact premiere date hasn't been announced yet. But Bachelorette fans will have plenty to view in the next few months.
The Bachelorette will air sometime this summer, followed by The Golden Bachelorette in the fall, according to ABC.
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