Fans are angry that Jenn Tran of The Bachelorette was forced to watch her marriage proposal to Devin Strader live on television on Tuesday night, nearly a month after he broke off their engagement in a 15-minute phone call and allegedly ignored her.
In a move never before seen in the Bachelorette franchise, Tran made history by becoming the first main cast member to propose to the winner of her season rather than to the previous winner – but their engagement didn’t last long.
In the live finale, host Jesse Palmer brought Tran on stage to tearfully confess that they had split over a month ago. Before airing the proposal, producers had Tran explain what went wrong.
“He basically said that he didn’t love me anymore and didn’t feel the same way I did and that something was wrong from the moment he proposed to me. He regretted his engagement,” Tran told the audience, sobbing.
Tran accused Strader of ignoring her text messages and “ghosting” her over the past month.
“He didn’t want to go to couples counseling,” said the reality TV star. “He didn’t want to fight for the relationship anymore. He was just done.”
Palmer invited the 28-year-old freight company owner on stage while accusing him of “clubbing” and following new girls on Instagram, like former “Bachelor” contestant Maria Georgas. Maria said on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast in April that she turned down the lead role on “The Bachelorette” before it was offered to Tran.
“It completely destroyed our entire relationship,” the first Asian-American “Bachelorette” told Strader.
“I disappointed you and I can’t say anything other than that you know it, but everything I felt was real,” he replied.
Strader said he had “major doubts” about their relationship when he left the show and that he was “unable to meet Tran’s needs,” but did not elaborate on what exactly her expectations were.
Palmer asked Tran, 26, if she was willing to look at the proposal, and she replied, “Do I have a choice?”
As the proposal aired, cameras showed a live stream of Tran at the bottom of the screen, crying right next to Strader as she proposed to her former partner.
Social media users sharply criticized the show’s producers for forcing them to relive this emotional moment live on television.
“Why does the show make Jenn watch this proposal while sitting next to Devin? This is seriously cruel,” wrote one social media user on X.
“She was already humiliated by Devin and then she was humiliated even more on the show by having to watch the marriage proposal,” another person wrote on Reddit.
As Jenn sobbed during the live taping, the show continued to air the clip of her proposal, in which she said, “I can’t let you propose to me. I’ve chosen to choose myself on this journey, and the best version of myself is me when I’m with you,” before pulling out a ring and putting it on Strader’s finger.
Seconds later, he proposed to her.
The camera pans back to Tran, still crying and sniffling, and the former couple sitting in silence.
Palmer urged her to “feel empowered” from that moment on, telling her, “Even though you may not have found the love and true love you were looking for, you have also shown us all what a strong and powerful woman you are.”
