Who Is Marcus Shoberg? Meet the Season 21 ‘Bachelorette’ Star in Jenn Tran’s Final 2

Marcus Shoberg was one of 25 men hoping to find love with Jenn Tran on season 21 of The Bachelorette, and he made it all the way to the final 2. Who is the leading lady’s suitor?

Who Is The Bachelorette’s Marcus Shoberg?

Marcus is an Army veteran who was a contestant on season 21 of The Bachelorette. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, but was previously in the Army for eight years from 2011 until 2019. Marcus’ positions in the army ranged from rifleman to sergeant.

After leaving the Army, Marcus enrolled in Harvard University, studying computer science, in 2021. His LinkedIn says he has a projected graduation date of 2025, but his ABC bio lists him as an “alum” of the college, and he has been working full-time since 2023.

At Harvard, Marcus was involved in the Undergraduate Veterans Organization. He has spoken about his passion for helping military veterans transition back into school after serving their country. He cited his own experience as part of the reason why he wanted to get involved in this mission. “Most of us have a considerable gap from our time when we left school and are now going into a college environment,” he pointed out in an interview.

Who Do You Want to See as the Next Golden Bachelor?

For his own college experience, Marcus said he used third-party services to help with the application process. However, he noted the importance of schools like Harvard having coordinators who can work specifically with veterans on the admissions committee.

“I don’t think veterans need – or want – handouts or to be coddled, or to be catered towards, during the application process,” he said. “But I think more than anything, just having the point of contact and the ability to clarify during the application process is probably going to be huge for veterans in the next application cycle.”

Marcus is also a certified open water scuba diver and has his student pilot certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration, per LinkedIn.

who is marcus shoberg the bachelorette season 21 contestant
who is marcus shoberg the bachelorette season 21 contestant

What Is Marcus Shoberg’s Job?

In April 2023, Marcus began working as a data engineer at Amentum in North Carolina. He founded his own company, Falkor Technologies, in September 2023. “At Falkor Technologies, we merge cutting-edge Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision, and Cloud Infrastructure to unlock the full potential of your data,” his LinkedIn reveals. The IT company “serve[s] those who still want to control their data,” according to its website.

The Bachelorette's Marcus Shoberg's Near-Death Experience

On the premiere of The Bachelorette, Marcus opened up about a near-death experience during his final deployment as an Army ranger. "I did six deployments and I'm super proud of being an Army ranger," he shared. "But the last mission I ever went on, I almost didn't come back from."

He explained that he and his team were cleared to go through a compound when a grenade was thrown. "Everything goes black and I woke up in the hospital in Washington D.C.," he continued. "That was, like, day one of the next two months of my life. When you can genuinely appreciate that you woke up in the morning and that you have breath in your lungs, that's a beautiful thing. And I would never be able to appreciate those kinds of things without that experience.

The Bachelorette's Marcus Shoberg Was Adopted

During his time on The Bachelorette, Marcus opened up to Jenn about his difficult family life. He revealed that his parents dropped him and his sister off at daycare one day and never came back to pick them up, which led to years of moving around to different foster families.

“Families would try us on for size and there was a lot of times I thought I was gonna have a mom and dad, and then they would change their mind,” he explained. “Me and my sister would end up back in the foster home.”

Marcus and his sister, Gabriella, were eventually adopted by Gerald and Dawn Shoberg. However, a source exclusively revealed to Life & Style that Marcus doesn’t have a “close relationship” with his adopted parents, who were not part of his hometown date with Jenn on The Bachelorette.

“[Gerald and Dawn] are on the older side and they are definitely homebodies,” the insider explained. “He does worry about his parents getting older and wants them to be around when he eventually has kids. He doesn’t talk to them a ton, though. He just doesn’t have that type of relationship with them.”

As for why Dawn and Gerald likely weren’t involved in Marcus’ hometown date, the source added, “When he got hurt in Afghanistan, the military called and said he may die. Dawn actually called the news about it and when Marcus woke up he was upset that she was talking publicly about him. He didn’t want anyone to know. I don’t think her intentions were bad with what she did, but that really upset him and that’s probably why he didn’t want her on the show. She’s more the type to talk a lot, so it’s better to keep her out of the public eye.”

How Far Does Marcus Shoberg Make It on ‘The Bachelorette’?

Marcus is the runner-up on season 21 of The Bachelorette, according to Reality Steve. He was reportedly one of Jenn’s final two men at the last rose ceremony in Hawaii, but was not the person she chose.

Steve reported in May 2024 that Jenn picked Devin Strader and that the two got engaged at the end of filming. However, in September 2024, the TV blogger said that Jenn and Devin broke up post-filming.