'The Bachelorette' Jenn Tran talks love, culture and making franchise history
Tran is the first Asian American lead in franchise history and her culture will play a big part in her season
LOS ANGELES -- It's Jenn Tran's time and we are all along for the ride on "The Bachelorette."
"I'm just so excited for everyone to watch my journey unfold. I feel like it was such a pivotal time in my life. I learned so much about myself and so, I'm excited for everyone to really see my journey and resonate with it," Tran told On The Red Carpet.
Tran has 25 men vying for her heart and she admitted there were some early contenders.
"From the first night, I had a few that I had immediate sparks with or immediate connections with," Tran revealed. "And then as time went on, I was really surprised by some of the men who I didn't think I had an immediate spark with, but then with each conversation they kept surprising me."
Tran revealed what she is looking for in a partner.
"I want someone who is emotionally intelligent, you know, has been to therapy. I don't want to potty train anyone," Tran laughed.
"I wanted someone who is secure and themselves. Like, I've dated a few insecure guys and it's just, it doesn't really work out... you know," Tran continued.. "I wanted someone who really didn't shy away from putting an effort (in)to getting to know me. And that's always been a theme in my previous relationships as I felt like I was always putting in so much more effort. And so I was conscious of the fact that I wanted to...be putting in as equal effort as me."
Tran's bubbly personality and instant connection with Joey Graziadei made her a frontrunner on "The Bachelor." But he sent her home just before hometown dates. She was announced as "The Bachelorette" during "The Bachelor: After The Final Rose." But stepping out to lead the show was not something she was always comfortable with.
"I never really envisioned myself as a Bachelorette or as a main character. And a large part of that is because I grew up Asian American and I really struggled with my identity for so long and not having representation in the media, I didn't really see myself on screen. And so I struggled to see myself in this role because I've never seen anybody do it, you know," Tran said.
Tran is making franchise history as the first Asian American lead. It's a responsibility she does not take lightly.
ALSO WATCH | Get to know this season's Bachelorette Jenn Tran
"It's going to be so special for me to be able to share this with everybody and share my culture with everybody. You know, I have a lot of conversations regarding race, culture, religion with these guys because those are the things that are important to me when potentially committing to somebody for the rest of my life," she explained.
Race has been and continues to be an extremely touchy topic among Bachelor Nation.
Most recently, during Joey's season of "The Bachelor," several contestants admitted they were getting hateful and racist comments online. During "Women Tell All," Rachel Nance told the audience that she had been getting vile messages just because she got a rose. Her message for Bachelor Nation: "be kind."
That message hasn't gotten to everyone, apparently.
"It's already getting a little bit nasty, although a lot of my comments are positive comments or positive feedback. But a lot of it is also racism and microaggressions that I'm experiencing every day on the Internet because of the role that I'm holding right now," Tran said.
"But for me, it kind of almost validates why I'm in this position. Is that because there hasn't (sic) been people in this position before like me who are Asian American, and so people are afraid of what's different than them. People are afraid of things that they haven't been exposed to or people they haven't been exposed to. And so I'm just hoping that with me being in this role, sharing my culture with people, that they're able to open up their hearts and their minds to accepting people who are like me."
The franchise is about love and that's what should be celebrated. And that is what Tran is after! So did she find it?
"I will say that the journey was really, really insightful. I learned so much about myself and everything that happened needed to happen, and it happened the way that it was supposed to. And so I am very happy with the way it all turned out," Tran revealed.
Watch "The Bachelorette" Monday nights on ABC and stream the next day on Hulu.
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