First impression rose: What to know about Season 21 ‘Bachelorette’ Jenn Tran
There’s a new Bachelorette in the mansion.
Jenn Tran is the star of Season 21 of “The Bachelorette,” which premieres tonight on ABC.
The 26-year-old’s history-making role in the franchise was announced in March during the finale of Joey Graziadei’s “Bachelor” season.
Tran came in fifth place during that series’ 28th season.
She told People that her season of “The Bachelorette” was “the best two months of my life.”
“I feel like it’s so weird that this crazy journey happened, and I am just so excited to be able to watch it back,” she added.
Here’s everything you need to know about Jenn Tran.
Tran is from New Jersey.
Tran was born and raised in Hillsdale, New Jersey.
She has an older brother, James. They were raised by their parents who are Vietnamese immigrants.
She played basketball and lacrosse in high school. She graduated in 2016.
Tran attended the University of Pittsburgh for two years, before transferring to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At the latter school, she was in a sorority and studied molecular biology. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in 2020.
The reality star was living in Miami, Florida, when she was cast in “The Bachelor.”
Tran is a PA student.
Tran is studying to be a physician assistant at Barry University in Miami.
She revealed in February that she asked her academic supervisor for permission to go on “The Bachelor.”
“No, I did not drop out of school,” she said in an Instagram video. “I didn’t know how my PA school was gonna look at me. I got so incredibly lucky because she was so supportive of it. Obviously there were a lot of hoops we had to jump through in order for it to all work out.”
“I was really lucky, and I can’t thank them enough for allowing me to do this and being so supportive and accepting,” she added.
Tran is the first Asian Bachelorette.
Tran is making history as the first Asian American to be cast in the lead role of “The Bachelorette.”
However, her historic casting has prompted some fans to send hateful messages to Tran.
“I won’t say that it’s all been positive because racism still exists,” she told People ahead of her premiere episode. “I have gotten a lot of hate messages, but along with that, I’ve also gotten so many people who have been so grateful to see somebody like me on their screen. I feel so grateful and honored that I get to do that for people because growing up, I never had that. I am becoming the role model that I’ve always wanted to see as a little girl.”
She added: “I was announced, and then, I had immediately left for filming. I didn’t have my phone throughout that whole time, so I had no idea what the world was saying until I came back from this amazing experience. I was so excited and so hopeful, and then, I go online and I read a bajillion people’s opinions on everything. That was really disappointing.”
Tran also told Glamour she was disappointed by the lack of Asian men on her season.
“Asian men haven’t always seen themselves in this position, and I am hoping that me being and [contestant] Thomas N. being there, that the both of us can inspire other Asian men to realize that they can do this too if they want,” she said.
Tran wasn’t the producers’ first choice to be the Bachelorette.
Maria Georgas and Daisy Kent, who both also competed on Season 28 of “The Bachelor,” were contacted to be the Season 21 Bachelorette.
Georgas revealed on Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast that she “was offered the role” and “it was mine until I said it wasn’t.”
“It became very overwhelming to the point where I had to decline. I just was not ready,” Georgas added.
Kent, the runner-up of Graziadei’s season, also turned down being on “The Bachelorette.”
“It’s not that I’m not ready to date, it’s that I wasn’t ready for that specific thing,” she said on Nick Viall’s podcast. “And I think coming off the show and doing the show, I didn’t realize how much of kind of a big thing it is, if that makes sense. I think right now, I just want to live and be happy. I’m always going to jump at opportunities, but I think just this specific opportunity wasn’t right for me right now.”
Tran has already teased her ‘Bachelorette’ finale.
“I’m very happy with the ending, and I’m very happy with the way everything panned out,” Tran told People about her season of “The Bachelorette,” which is expected to finish airing in September.
“I learned so much every day that I was there [to find out] about myself and what I wanted in a relationship. There was so much growth,” she said.
Season 21 of “The Bachelorette” premieres July 8 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
