‘The Bachelorette’ Jenn Tran talks love, culture and making franchise history

LOS ANGELES — It’s Jenn Tran’s time and we’re all rooting for The Bachelorette.

“I’m just so excited for everyone to be able to follow my journey. I feel like this was such a pivotal time in my life. I learned so much about myself and so I’m excited for everyone to really be able to follow and experience my journey,” Tran told On The Red Carpet.

25 men are vying for Tran’s heart and she admitted that there were some early contenders.

“From the first night, I had a few that I clicked with right away or that I connected with right away,” Tran revealed. “And then, as time went on, I was really surprised by some men that I didn’t think I clicked with right away, but then they kept surprising me with every conversation.”

Tran revealed what she is looking for in a partner.

“I want someone who is emotionally intelligent, you know, who has been through therapy. I don’t want to get anyone used to cleanliness,” Tran laughed.

“I wanted someone who was confident and self-assured. I’ve dated a few insecure guys and it just didn’t really work out… you know,” Tran continued. “I wanted someone who was really not afraid to put in the effort to get to know me. And that’s always been a theme in my past relationships, because I felt like I always put in so much more effort. And so I was conscious of the fact that I wanted to… put in as much effort as I did.”

Tran’s bubbly personality and instant connection with Joey Graziadei made her a favorite on The Bachelor, but he sent her home just before her hometown dates. She was announced as the Bachelorette during The Bachelor: After The Final Rose. But hosting the show wasn’t always something she was comfortable with.

“I never really envisioned myself as the Bachelorette or as the main character. And a lot of that is because I grew up Asian American and struggled with my identity for so long. Because I wasn’t represented in the media, I couldn’t really see myself on screen. And so I had a hard time seeing myself in that role because I’ve never seen anyone in that role, you know,” Tran said.

Tran is making franchise history as the first Asian-American lead actress. It’s a responsibility she doesn’t take lightly.

“It’s going to be really special for me to be able to share this with everyone and share my culture with everyone. You know, I have a lot of conversations with these people about race, culture and religion because those are the things that are important to me when I’m potentially committing to someone for the rest of my life,” she explained.

Race was and is an extremely sensitive topic among Bachelor members.

Most recently, during Joey’s season of The Bachelor, several contestants admitted to receiving hateful and racist comments online. During “Women Tell All,” Rachel Nance told the audience that she received vile messages just for getting a rose. Her message to Bachelor Nation: “Be kind.”

Apparently this message has not reached everyone.

“It does get a little nasty, even though a lot of my comments are positive comments or positive feedback. But a lot of it is also racism and microaggressions that I experience every day online because of the role that I currently hold,” Tran said.

“But for me, it’s almost a validation of why I’m in this position. It’s because there have never been people like me in this position before who are Asian American, and so people are afraid of anything that’s different than them. People are afraid of things they’ve never come into contact with or people they’ve never come into contact with. And so I just hope that by me taking on this role and sharing my culture with them, people are able to open their hearts and minds to accept people who are like me.”

The franchise is about love and that should be celebrated. And that’s exactly what Tran is striving for! So has she found it?

“I have to say that the journey was really enlightening. I learned so much about myself and everything that happened was meant to happen and it happened the way it was supposed to happen. And that’s why I’m very happy with how it all turned out,” Tran revealed.

Watch “The Bachelorette” Monday night on ABC and stream it the next day on Hulu.

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