Bachelorette’s Jenn Tran Joins ‘DWTS’ Season 33 Following Dramatic Breakup From Devin Strader
Bachelorette Jenn Tran is joining the cast of Dancing With the Stars season 33 following her devastating breakup from Devin Strader.
Jenn, 26, headed to New York City on Wednesday, September 4, to be part of the DWTS live announcement on Good Morning America just hours after her The Bachelorette finale. She will be partnered with Sasha Farber when taking the dancefloor during the DWTS season 33 premiere on Tuesday, September 17.
"I've actually always wanted to learn how to dance," Jenn said during her GMA interview on Wednesday. "So, this is kind of like a dream come true, honestly."
Hours prior to the DWTS cast announcement, fans watched as Jenn’s journey to find love officially came to an end on Tuesday, September 3. While her trip to Hawaii ended with an engagement to Devin, 28, — Jenn proposed to Devin — the lead broke down in tears during The Bachelorette’s live After the Final Rose revealing that he had called off their relationship.
“We left Hawaii engaged,” she told Bachelorette host Jesse Palmer. “I thought I found the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. As soon as we left Hawaii, things were different.”
Jenn claimed that Devin was “pulling away” when they finished filming, which led to their eventual breakup.
“I was confused, I didn’t understand because we had just left so happy,” she said. “He basically said he didn’t love me anymore and didn’t feel the same way.”
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After their proposal, Devin told Jenn that he “regretted” their engagement. “He was checked out. It wasn’t what he wanted anymore,” she continued.
During Tuesday’s After the Final Rose, the former couple sat next to each other as they watched their proposal play out with the live audience.
“That is what I thought was the happiest day of my life,” Jenn said after watching the moment back. While she “does not regret” the engagement, Tran stated that the Devin she thought she knew “does not exist anymore.”
Jenn is hardly the first Bachelorette star to hit the ballroom following her journey to find love. Six former female leads, including Hannah Brown and Gabby Windey in recent years, have competed on the show. Three out of the six have even won.
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This is the first year, however, that two former Bachelor or Bachelorette leads will be competing against each other on DWTS. Most recent Bachelor star Joey Graziadei is set to put his dance moves to the test alongside pro Jenna Johnson for this season.
Jenn — a contestant on Joey’s Bachelor season before her journey to find love — sang her now-competitor’s praises to Us Weekly months before her Bachelorette season premiered.
“He was 100 percent himself the entire time,” she gushed to Us in March. “He’s so genuine and he really just made me feel so safe the entire time I was there in terms of just being who I am. And he was just so open and receptive of everything, and he truly is an amazing guy.”
For the full cast of season 33 of DWTS, click here. The series premieres on ABC Tuesday, September 17, at 8 p.m. ET.