Jenn Tran, the first Asian American lead on The Bachelorette, recently opened up about her journey of self-discovery and empowerment on ABC’s popular dating show.
The Vietnamese American physician assistant student appeared on The View on Tuesday, where she spoke about finding her voice.
“I really learned how to have a voice in a relationship,” Jenn said. “I’ve never had that in a relationship before. Often times, I really shied away from talking about important things to me like race, culture, just everything that makes me me because I always thought that it would make the guy run away from me, but like good, you should run away from me if you don’t agree with me or want to support me.”
At 26, Jenn first captured viewers’ hearts while competing for Joey Graziadei’s affection on his season of “The Bachelor” earlier this year.
Although she was eliminated during week seven, her charisma and authenticity shone through, leading to the exciting announcement that she would be the next Bachelorette. This historic moment made her the first Asian woman to take on the lead role in the show’s history.
In a separate interview with People, Jenn addressed the mixed public reaction to her being the Bachelorette.
“I won’t say that it’s all been positive because racism still exists,” she said. “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 honoured 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.”
Despite the negativity, Jenn remains resilient. “It’s been tough,” she said about receiving unkind messages. “I was announced, and then I 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.”
Catch Tran’s journey as The Bachelorette when it premieres on Monday, July 8, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
