Jenn Tran made history when she was announced as The Bachelorette‘s first-ever Asian American lead on March 25, but her casting also took members of Bachelor Nation — including former Bachelor lead Nick Viall — by surprise.
Heading into the finale, Maria Georgas and Season 28 runner-up Daisy Kent were the clear front-runners and fan-favorite Bachelorette choices. So when Tran was unexpectedly announced, Bachelor Nation couldn’t help but feel like producers did her and her historic moment a huge disservice.
After chatting with Kent on a recent episode of his podcast, The Viall Files, Viall shared his thoughts on The Bachelorette Season 21 casting, including fears that Tran wasn’t set up for success and his belief that producers should have done whatever necessary to cast Daisy.
“I think there’s something about Daisy and her sincerity — I really think the show missed out,” Viall said, recounting the various reasons why the runner-up turned down the opportunity, including her health.
“So many contestants on The Bachelor or Bachelorette will say they turned down the opportunity. And that’s sometimes half true. A lot of it is they negotiate themselves out of the role. They asked for too much money. They asked for too many accommodations. And as I pointed out before, the show famously will not negotiate, almost to the detriment,” Viall explained. “I think in this case it was to their detriment. I’m really happy for Jenn. I’m very happy for the representation that Bachelor Nation is finally having when it comes to Asian representation. I’m really bummed they went about it this way, because clearly Jenn wasn’t their first choice. They never planned on Jenn being the Bachelorette and they haven’t set Jenn up for success. We don’t know who she is. We don’t know her story. And it’s a bummer that Jenn is going into this role being set up like this.”
Viall noted that the show still has time to turn things around and help viewers learn more about Tran before her season airs, saying, “I hope to get Jenn out there. I hope they allow us to learn about her backstory, who she is — because there’s clearly more to her than just being the first Asian Bachelorette.”
That being said, he also thinks “the show should have done whatever they could have done to make Daisy the Bachelorette.”
The Bachelor Season 21 lead explained he thinks producers should have “paid [Daisy] an amount that would have been hard to turn down” and “bent over backwards” to ensure her health was taken care of.
As for why Viall thinks the show needed Kent to return, he said, “I just think so often their best Bachelorettes have this kind of sassy snark. They’re spitfires and it’s very entertaining. They haven’t had like a real true girl next door Bachelorette.”
Viall also pointed out that Kent currently has more Instagram followers than The Bachelor‘s Season 28 lead Joey Graziadei, so the popularity factor is certainly there. He emphasized her compelling story and noted, “even though she’s sweet, she’s not a pushover.”
“She was able to go through this whole process and not succumb to the pressures and just say ‘I’m falling in love’ because it’s what you do. Whatever she lacks an experience he makes up for an emotional maturity as I see it. And I think we often haven’t had that in a lead,” Viall said. Coming off of Graziadei’s season, which the former Bachelor lead admitted felt like “a resurrection of the franchise,” he ultimately thinks “they missed out on having back-to-back iconic seasons.”
Before the podcast episode ended, Viall took a moment to clarify that his support for Kent had nothing to do with Tran, repeating, “They just didn’t they did not set her up for success. They were planning on having her be The Bachelorette.” He also shared his respect for Kent’s decision to turn down The Bachelorette, which you can read more about here.
While you wait for more news on Jenn Tran’s upcoming season of The Bachelorette, you can listen to Viall and Kent’s full conversation here.