Jenn Tran can't stop thinking about being the first Asian American lead in the history of ā not that she wants to.
āI think about it every day, all the time. I think if I pushed it aside, that would be such a dishonor to me in who I am because being Asian American, thatās me,ā the 26-year-old aspiring physician assistant tells The Associated Press.
A Vietnamese American woman reigning over Bachelor Nation marks a significant moment for the reality TV dating behemoth. Historically, fewer roses on āThe Bachelorā and āThe Bacheloretteā have gone to contestants of color. The roses that were handed out often came with plenty of thorns, including
Tran's season doesn't debut on ABC until Monday, but it's already received some criticism for having few suitors of Asian descent. Still, Tran ā who made it to the final six in the last ā is embracing her unconventional search for love as an opportunity to share her bicultural upbringing.
āMy mom and I speak a lot of Vietnamese together. And I canāt wait for people to see that. Thatās not something that people have seen before,ā Tran says.
āThe Bachelorā has been a mixed bag when it comes to showcasing Asian cultures. In 2019, went on a group date over Singaporean street food. The mostly white contestants made gagging noises and Colton, who is also white, made a toast āto weird food.ā The outing drew some backlash and even a
Tran, whose season has already completed filming, assures that the show has handled her Vietnamese identity respectfully.
āThere is a small scene in the beginning in my intro package where I talk to my family about leaving as a bachelorette and there they cooked a big, big Vietnamese meal,ā Tran says. āI hope ... Iām exposing people to something thatās different than them. And so that can incite change and that can incite acceptance into people.ā
Non-white contestants and leads, including Black trailblazers and Matt James, have historically been met with hostility from the majority-white Bachelor Nation audience. Longtime host under fire over his handling of Rachel Nance, who is Filipino and Black and outlasted Tran on Graziadei's season, tearfully recounted in March getting āhundredsā of DMs and comments using racial slurs for both Black and Asian people. (Some viewers were disappointed that host Jesse Palmer did not call it racism but instead asked viewers to temper their āstrong opinions.ā)
Tran hasn't been immune to the same treatment. She gets racist comments āevery day" on Instagram and TikTok, she says. Her approach is to simply ignore it, though it isn't easy.
āSocial media is like this platform for all these people just come at me all at once and itās a new feeling. Itās overwhelming. And unfortunately, thatās the world that we live in right now,ā Tran says. āI hope that people are more open-minded and that they open their hearts up to this truly.ā
Tran's star turn has definitely piqued the interest of Asian Americans who donāt typically watch āBachelorā programming, however. One is Vi Luong, 27, a Vietnamese American social media influencer/content creator who has only watched She's never been interested in the younger incarnations.
āIād say 90% of my friends are Asian and yeah, theyāre kind of like in my boat where theyāve never really cared until now,ā says Luong, who is based in Irvine, California. āThe bad rhetoric I was seeing was like, āOh, sheās a diversity hire.ā Maybe but, like, I donāt think thatās a bad thing. ... Tapping into a whole different demographic ā I think it's a smart choice."
Luong has already received invites to watch parties happening within the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Luong, whose boyfriend is white, wants to see how Tran and the show handle and any culture clashes. She's also looking forward to how Tran's mother handles the boyfriend meet-and-greets.
āThis is where Iām like, āOh, this might get really interesting,āā Luong says. āIf thereās something you have to know about Vietnamese people, is we are very, very blunt people, very direct people, especially our parents' generation.ā
The star herself says her mother has only watched Vietnamese reality TV shows. Tran isn't sure how her parent will react to whatever makes it to air ā but her mother wasn't shy during filming, which Tran thinks will make for good TV.
āThere are some concerns and things that she brought up because of our Vietnamese culture. So thatās something that Iām excited for people to learn about,ā Tran says. āShe really was just trying to wrap her head around it all.ā
Only a few of the 25 men vying for her affections appear to be of Asian descent, and only one is Vietnamese American. The franchise's dearth of Asian men has been an ongoing gripe: The āBachelorā universe, which debuted in 2002, didn't have an Asian contestant until the 2016 season of āThe Bachelorette.ā Jonathan, a half-Scottish and half-Chinese technical sales rep, entered in a kilt and was primarily remembered for a crude punchline implying that his Asian side wasn't as manly.
In response to the lack of Asian men, Asian American production company Wong Fu Productions made two parody āBacheloretteā skits in 2017 and 2018. Collectively, the YouTube videos, one of which features a have amassed more than 9 million views.
Philip Wang, co-founder and video director, plans to check out Tran's journey. He called her casting āa net positive moveā but hopes the series avoids any stereotypical tropes.
āUltimately the bachelor/ette shows are very white leaning/adjacent so itās an uphill battle to shift that branding/audience...if itās even worth it," Wang wrote in an email.
In a wide-ranging interview the showrunners who last year addressed the franchise's troubling history with race. They acknowledged falling short in responding to concerns of the few non-white leads and online bullying, and acknowledged Tran should have had more Asian suitors.
As for if any of those suitors put a ring on it, Tran will not confirm.
āI can tell you that I'm happy with the way things ended,ā she says with a smile.
Besides romance, Tran also feels that she found her voice on āThe Bachelorā franchise. She has been candid about wanting to break a streak of toxic relationships. She hopes viewers will see an Asian American woman unafraid to advocate for what she knows she deserves.
"Throughout this journey I really learned to stand up for myself because if you donāt, nobody else will,ā Tran says. āI hope that women will see that and will resonate with that and will understand that itās okay to have a voice and in fact, that makes you stronger in who you are.ā
Terry Tang, The Associated Press
