By Alicia Bartolotta
Since 2002 the bachelor franchise has been producing season after season to flood our television screens. Whether it be a season of The Bachelor, Bachelorette or Bachelor in Paradise, America never goes more than a few months without a season being aired. Some are rated better than others, however, and today I will be showing you why season fifteen with Hannah Brown was the best.
America was introduced to Hannah Brown at the start of Colton Underwood’s season of the Bachelor. She was 24 years old, previously Miss Alabama, and an interior designer. Being a young pageant queen it would be assumed that she was the stereotypical perfect pageant girl but that is not what she says about herself. She calls herself a hot mess. She says her life is the hot mess express and she’s the conductor. She was scared that Colton would not like her because of her so-called mess of a life. This type of anxiety and self-shaming was not something often shown on shows like this. Hannah showing this type of vulnerability and unsureness in herself made the audience root for her. It made her different which caused a more interesting season. So, when Colton ended up eliminating her from his season, America all ended up getting tickets for the hot mess express and encouraged ABC to choose her as the next Bachelorette.
When her season started it was clear she still carried those insecurities with her. She was scared that someone would not love her for who she is. This is a fear most leads have on this show. Hannah did not get dealt the best hand when it came to the men on her season. The first night a man named Scott got sent home by Hannah when she found out he had a girlfriend. That same night she gave a man named Luke P the first impression rose. Now this man ended up being one of the most disrespectful and hated people in bachelor history. He manipulated Hannah multiple times to keep him around and made zero friends in the house. All these attacks he made did make a more interesting season. The worst thing happened the night of their fantasy suite. Luke was a born-again Christian and believed that people should remain celibate till marriage. Hannah, even though she is a Christian too, does not believe in but respects Luke’s beliefs. Luke, very angry by what Hannah believes, shames her and says she will not be loved. Hannah counters that by saying what she believes in and wants is unconditional holy love, not a man who looks down on her. She says her famous line, “I have had sex and Jesus still loves me.” This line showed a new Hannah who was brave and could stick up for herself, not the same girl audiences saw on Colton’s season.
Even with all the disrespect Luke gave to Hannah and the other men, he was still not the most hated man on the season. That honor goes to Jed Wyatt. A singer/songwriter from Nashville who went on the show not to find love but actually to further his music career. Why did he not need to find love you may ask? Well, that’s because Scott was not the only man with a girlfriend back home. Jed had a girlfriend too. By the end of the show he not only had a girlfriend, but a fiancè too. That’s right, Hannah picked him in the end. Of course, when the media and Hannah found out she was heartbroken. However, when facing Jed Hannah spoke with a level of poise and confidence no one had seen from her before. She said she was heartbroken that he took away this love from her all while not screaming and not blaming his now ex-girlfriend, but rather the man who broke both of them.
Hannah Brown’s season was unlike any other from the Bachelor franchise. Most seasons give the audience a happy couple at the end. Two people who to overcome thirty other relationships. Hannah’s instead was a season of self-growth. Watching her learn to love herself while man after man disrespected her was inspiring to young women all over the world. In the end, she was still the goofy, quirky, “hot mess” she started as but she was also someone who could stand up for herself. She learned to command the room when entering and deal with adversity with a calm demeanor. That is why Hannah Brown’s season is the best season of the bachelorette.