The Bachelorette higher-ups and ABC have been feeling some major blowback from Bachelor Nation since the Season 21 finale aired on the 2024 TV schedule. In a move that many fans called “cruel,” Jenn Tran was made to watch back her proposal, sobbing the whole time, with her ex-fiancé Devin Strader sitting right next to her. Jenn opened up about that disaster of a finale, admitting that she thought about running off stage, but she explained why the proposal “needed” to be aired.
A historic moment on a historic season quickly made history for all the wrong reasons on the September 3 finale. Jenn Tran is the first Asian American to lead a Bachelor franchise show, and she also became the first Bachelorette to propose to her final guy. However, ABC opting to show that proposal the way that they did was possibly its most brutal move since The Bachelor Season 22 controversial finale, when Arie Luyendyk Jr. blindsided Becca Kufrin by dumping her on-camera during a “happy couple weekend.” Jenn told Glamour that she definitely felt the urge to flee the scene Tuesday, saying:
In my head I had thought about it. I was like, I don’t know if I am completely comfortable being this emotional in front of so many people. I think I struggled with, Do I just run offstage or is that going to make a bigger scene? But once the waterworks started, I was like, Oh, this is going to be dramatic if I just run away, so maybe I just sit here? I was just struggling with myself and what to do in that moment.
I had wondered this exact thing as I watched the finale — mouth agape — from my couch: Why doesn’t she leave? They can’t stop her. Is she afraid to make it worse?
It turns out The Bachelorette producers at least warned Jenn Tran of how the finale would go down, and as hard as it was, she “needed” her proposal to be shown. Jenn said:
Yes, I did know that was going to happen. They walked me through the game plan and everything. I guess I just didn’t know how heavy I would be feeling in the moment, just seeing [Devin] again and having that conversation that we had. I was very, very anxious that night and so my emotions were just all over the place from the beginning. It was a very hard thing to do to watch it back with him, but I also knew that it needed to be done because I wanted him to watch that part.
As for why it was important to Jenn Tran that her ex watch back their mutual proposals, she said it didn’t seem like Devin Strader remembered all promises he made over the course of the season and all the things he said. She continued:
I’m like, Why don’t you watch this back and listen to the words that you’re saying to me and realize why I’m so hurt by what you did? But it was definitely not an easy thing to do, and I didn’t think I was going to be so emotional.
It was definitely emotional, and Bachelor Nation seemed to feel collectively terrible for what Jenn Tran had to endure on that stage. Even if she wanted Devin Strader to remember the promises they’d made to each other that day, I still think the decision to air the proposal the way they did — with both of them on stage together, after it had already been revealed that they broke up — was simply the wrong move.
Hopefully Dancing with the Stars is a less traumatizing experience, as Jenn Tran was announced to be joining the Season 33 cast, although after hearing what Charity Lawson said about the bullying she endured from DWTS fans — “I was getting death threats for existing.” — I’m a little skeptical.
Tune in to see her moves (and Joey Graziadei’s!) when Dancing with the Stars premieres at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, September 17, on ABC and with a Disney+ subscription.