After the finale of The Bachelorette season 21 graced our television screens yesterday (September 3), our heart aches for leading lady Jenn Tran.
For those who have yet to tune into the three-hour television special, Jenn began the episode bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, excited to introduce finalists Marcus Shoberg and Devin Strader to her family, embark on her final dates with both Marcus and Devin, and ultimately decide which one would be her future husband. Unfortunately for Jenn, plans went awry, resulting in what actually might have been the “most dramatic finale we’ve ever seen,” where the leading lady shockingly ended up #SingleAF.
Deciding to part ways with Marcus before their final date — as he had reservations about popping the question to Jenn come finale night — the New Jersey native was all in on Devin, ready to make a monumental move that will be in the Bachelorette history books for years to come. Wanting to make a grand gesture to show Devin how much he truly means to her, Jenn made the decision to propose to Devin in a shocking turn of events, however, Bachelor Nation did not get to see this proposal in a positive light…
When it came time to show the proposal, host Jesse Palmer brought Jenn out onstage instead, who informed the crowd — as well as those who were tuned into ABC — that she and Devin recently parted ways. According to Jenn, things between the two lovebirds changed for the worse just moments after filming came to a close, and Devin eventually broke off the engagement via a phone call, claiming to have never loved her. How cruel is that?
In this moment, fans of the Bachelor franchise realized that Sam McKinney might have been making a good point all along, as Devin proved to be a villain after all.
To make things even worse, Jesse Palmer invited Devin onstage for the pair to have their first conversation since their over-the-phone split. Naturally, the conversation was tough to watch as a fan of the Bachelor franchise, as Jenn was visibly heartbroken and hurting while speaking to her former fiancé, airing out their dirty laundry in front of a live studio audience and on live television.
The waterworks began to flow as soon as ABC made a decision that was as cruel as can be, forcing Jenn and Devin to watch their proposal while seated next to each other, just moments after having said conversation. Jesse asked whether or not Jenn wanted to see the footage, and although she seemed apprehensive — uttering the words, “Do I have a choice?” — the network decided to roll the tape anyways, which naturally caused an uproar from Bachelor Nation.
The moment was just as bad as you would imagine, with ABC not only forcing Jenn and Devin to watch their proposal while seated next to each other, but also including a box in the corner of the screen to show their live reactions. As one can assume, Jenn was an emotional wreck, with longtime Bachelor Nation blogger Reality Steve — as well as dozens of other fans of the Bachelor franchise — taking to X to argue that “this is literally the worst thing this show has ever done.”
Although Devin proved to be one of the worst Bachelorette villains of all time, ABC proved to be an even bigger villain after forcing Jenn to endure this pain all over again. No matter how much we love the Bachelor franchise — or how many years we have been tuning in for — it will be tough to view the network in a positive light after this stunt they pulled during The Bachelorette season 21 finale…