Since Joey’s season of The Bachelor came to an end last week, Bachelor Nation has been mourning the loss of what has arguably been the best season in years. And with the end of the Bachelor season comes a super important announcement: the franchise’s next lead. From all the women on this season, it was very clear that the nation was divided: Team Daisy or Team Maria? The all-American classic Bachelor sweetheart or the fun, unapologetic bombshell?
Now that the dust has settled and ABC has made their decision, I would like to say that while I was Team Maria, I was also secretly rooting for a third option. And as I frantically refreshed Twitter waiting to see who the next Bachelorette was going to be, I couldn’t believe my eyes when The Bachelor made all my dreams come true and picked Jenn.
Immediately, I ran across the entire house to tell my mom and we jumped up and down celebrating. As everyone in my life knows, I was a huge Jenn fan all season and her elimination right before Hometowns broke my heart. While I knew the internet was undoubtedly going to be upset that it wasn’t Maria, I figured it wouldn’t actually be THAT big of a deal…
But apparently it really was.
I immediately found myself lost in a sea of angry tweets, comments and Tiktoks of endless hate. People used every excuse under the sun to bash ABC for their choice and I did in fact take all of this personally, for some reason. Why wasn’t everyone as excited as I was? What did Jenn possibly do this season to receive all of this backlash? Rather than focusing on all of the stupid hurtful things being said online, I thought I would share why Jenn as the new Bachelorette is so meaningful to me as a longtime Bachelor fan.
Let me start with the obvious: Jenn is now the first Asian lead that the franchise has ever had. It’s actually absurd that it’s taken this long for them to have one, but I think this fact alone is enough to prove that we should be celebrating this decision. She was also the first ever fully Asian woman to ever be chosen on a one-on-one date in Bachelor history, which is ridiculous when you consider that this show has been on the air for over TWENTY YEARS.
As both a half-Asian girl and a hopeless romantic, Jenn being the Bachelorette is so meaningful to me. She’s talked a lot on social media about how important it is for young Asian girls to see themselves represented, and how being on The Bachelor helped her realize that she could be the main character in her own love story despite not having seen a lot of Asian main characters on TV growing up. For me, this alone should be enough of a justification for why they chose her.
But if you really need more reasons, she’s also just super easy to root for. It was really nice to see how passionate she was about PA school, both on the show and on social media. I always have a ton of respect for people who go on reality shows and then still decide to stick with their old career instead of becoming an influencer. She was also easily one of the most fun girls on the season, from her go-kart entrance on night one to when she made the world’s most disgusting poutine to get Joey’s attention – and it WORKED.
Ultimately, I can understand why people might be disappointed that their first choice wasn’t picked. I know better than anyone that it can be really easy to get attached to certain people on these shows. However, I think it’s important to remember a few things:
First, no one wanted Hannah Brown to be The Bachelorette, and yet she’s one of the show’s most iconic leads of all time. Second, I promise you all that Maria is going to eat everyone up when she hits the beach for Bachelor in Paradise. And finally, I think it’s important that we don’t place the emphasis on all the girls they didn’t pick, but rather the girl they did. Because Jenn is truly amazing, and I know this is going to be a fantastic season! So when July rolls around and we’re all seated, just remember that I told you so.