Reality Check: New 'Bachelorette' star Jenn Tran 'genuinely' believes she'll find love in series
Former "Bachelor" contestant Jenn Tran, a 26-year-old aspiring physician assistant originally from New Jersey, will star in season 21 of ABC's "The Bachelorette." Tran, who is Vietnamese American, is the first Asian woman to lead the series in its 21-year history. Credit: Disney / TNS / John Fleenor
Jenn Tran, whose stint on the recent Joey Graziadei season of “The Bachelor” led to her being named star of “The Bachelorette” season 21, insists she “genuinely” believes she will find love on the show.
“I think the process is accelerated,” Tran, 26, the first Asian American star of the “Bachelor/Bachelorette” franchise, told the entertainment-news program “Extra,” “but it pushes people to really open up. I definitely saw that in myself. In previous relationships, I really shied away from opening up and being vulnerable and talking about the things I had gone through and my insecurities. And I think once you’re able to do that, you really do feel closer to the person that you’re dating.”
And the Hillsdale, New Jersey, native takes the long view: “I feel like humor is what makes a relationship really last. And I am looking for a life partner, and so when the lust fades, when the physical attraction fades, you at least still have a really good friendship.”
The Vietnamese American Tran, on leave from her studies to become a physician assistant, said she understands the significance of her being a franchise first. “For me, growing up, I never really saw Asian representation on TV very often … I actually called my little cousin and I told her I’m going to be the first Asian Bachelorette and she was like, sobbing, like, inconsolably crying. I was like, ‘I don’t know if you are happy or sad,’ and she was like, ‘No, no, no, I'm really, really happy.’ ”
Tran added, "That was the moment when it really hit me ... . I'm inspiring a lot of young women around the world … . It’s a lot of people who maybe feel like they haven't seen themselves on TV yet, and they just want to be able to see themselves in that main character kind of role.”
Batten down the Hatch
The very first “Survivor” winner, Richard Hatch, who set the template for “reality-show villain” with his chess-like, Machiavellian moves on that groundbreaking series in 2000, will be in the cast of E!’s “House of Villains” season 2, premiering this fall.
In an announcement video on the show’s website, series host Joel McHale hosts mock auditions for the sophomore season cast. He quips of Hatch, who turns 63 on April 8, “Oh, sorry, Richard, I didn’t recognize you with your clothes on” — a reference to Hatch having competed on “Survivor” in the buff.
Hatch — who has not commented on social media about his casting alongside Teresa Giudice (“The Real Housewives of New Jersey”), Larissa Lima (“90 Day Fiancé”) or the returning Tiffany “New York” Pollard (“Flavor of Love”) — has had some rocky times since “Survivor,” including serving 51 months in prison for tax evasion and later another 9 months for violating probation.
In October, the U.S. government was preparing to take the Rhode Islander to court over alleged false property transfers to avoid paying taxes. No outcome or settlement has been reported.
Premieres
Early Monday on the streaming service Hulu, “Vanderpump Rules” goes to France in the new “Vanderpump Villa,” featuring star and executive producer Lisa Vanderpump at the estate Château Rosabelle with a new cast of restaurant staffers who both live and work there … Wednesday from 10 to 11:03 p.m., TLC advises viewer discretion for the medically graphic new series “Take My Tumor,” starring surgeons Jason Cohen, Kimberly Moore Dalal and Ryan F. Osborne as they take on extreme cases, including surface tumors … and Thursday from 10:01 to 11:04 p.m., season 3 of A&E’s “Interrogation Raw” continues to air videos of real-life law enforcement questioning, plus detectives’ commentary.
Recaps
Daisy Kent, knowing Joey Graziadei was not going to choose her on the season 28 finale of “The Bachelor,” bowed out, leaving the way clear for winner Kelsey Anderson … “Survivor” voted off Jemila "Jem" Hussain-Adams … Twin brothers Anthony and Bailey Smith are off “The Amazing Race” … and the 10 finalists were selected on “So You Think You Can Dance” season 18.
