‘Bachelorette’ Jenn Tran on identity, family and looking for love
Jenn Tran, the first Asian American lead on the reality series “The Bachelorette,” talks about her identity and finding a relationship.
Roll Tide! Alabama Hannah is heading back to “Paradise.”
ABC’s “Bachelor” franchise has added Hannah Brown, arguably one of its biggest stars, to Season 10 of its “Bachelor in Paradise” cast alongside host Jesse Palmer and bartender Wells Adams.
But this time, the Alabama native won’t be looking for love (she now lives in Nashville with fiancée Adam Woolard). Instead, she will work in the show’s newly created Champagne Lounge.
The Brown addition comes amid struggling ratings for the franchise and a location move to Costa Rica for the upcoming 10th “Paradise” season after the series left its longtime home at Playa Escondida in Sayulita, Mexico.
Earlier this year, ABC pressed pause on its summer, female-led edition “The Bachelorette,” which helped make Brown a household name, two weeks after the premiere of the latest “Bachelor” season starring leading man Grant Ellis.
During the “After the Final Rose” finale episode for Ellis’ season in March, host Palmer and “Golden” franchise alumni Gary Levingston and Leslie Fhima, from the show’s senior series, revealed that 55 and up contestants would make their way to the “Paradise” beach for the first time.
Hannah Brown’s reality TV career has fueled hype, controversy
Although each season promises to be the “most dramatic” season yet, Brown’s clearly lived up to the hype back in 2019.
It had everything to create ratings gold and launch Brown to reality TV superstardom: fan favorite Tyler Cameron, who Brown passed over for final rose recipient Jed Wyatt, who was the subject of fervent media backlash following reports he was in a previous relationship when he was cast on the dating show.
Brown, a devout Christian, also sparked online backlash surrounding the intersection of religion and sexuality after revealing that “I have had sex … and Jesus still loves me” during the show’s infamous fantasy suite week following a heated argument about sex with controversial contestant Luke Palmer.
Before becoming the “Bachelorette” lead, she was eliminated by then-“Bachelor” Colton Underwood, who later came out as gay, quipping, “I will not allow myself to not feel chosen every single day. And I’ll wait till whenever that is.”
After the “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette,” she won “Dancing with the Stars” with pro dance partner Alan Bersten.
At times, she has been the source of controversy. In 2020, just days before the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Brown stoked controversy when she said a racial slur used to describe Black people during an Instagram live while singing the lyrics to DaBaby’s then-viral song “Rockstar.”
She later apologized and rebounded from the firestorm, releasing a New York Times No. 1 bestselling book, “God Bless This Mess: Learning to Live and Love Through Life’s Best (and Worst) Moments.” In 2023, she won the first season of Fox’s military training reality competition “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.”
Contributing: KiMi Robinson, Bryan Alexander
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