Longtime fans of the Bachelor franchise were surprised to learn this week that Hannah Brown is the new Bachelorette.
The former Miss Alabama USA was an atypical choice from the standard prototype of leads being selected from the top four. Robert Mills, an ABC executive, however, was able to explain why producers ultimately landed with Hannah B.—a former contestant on Colton Underwood’s season of The Bachelor—for their choice as the Bachelorette.
“This is similar to when Colton was named the Bachelor and I was asked, why Colton and not Blake or Jason?” he recalled to The Hollywood Reporter. “I said then that it was basically a three-way tie and really a tough decision. And this was the same thing. This case was basically a five-way tie.”
The choices were narrowed down to all contestants from Underwood’s season. “We met with Hannah B., Hannah Godwin ‘Hannah G.’, Tayshia Adams, Caelynn Miller-Keyes and Demi Burnett,” Mills continued. “And they were all great, but there was something about Hannah B. And they were all great, but there was something about Hannah B. Part of it was that she thought she was the dark horse, so she came in and had nothing to lose, saying, ‘I don’t know, I’m just going to be myself.’”
THE BACHELOR – “Episode 2301” – What does a pageant star who calls herself the “hot-mess express,” a confident Nigerian beauty with a loud-and-proud personality,; a deceptively bubbly spitfire who is hiding a dark family secret, a California beach blonde who has a secret that ironically may make her the BachelorÕs perfect match, and a lovable phlebotomist all have in common? TheyÕre all on the hunt for love with Colton Underwood when the 23rd edition of ABCÕs hit romance reality series “The Bachelor” premieres with a live, three-hour special on MONDAY, JAN. 7 (8:00-11:00 p.m. EST), on The ABC Television Network. (ABC/Rick Rowell)
HANNAH G.
THE BACHELOR – “Episode 2301” – What does a pageant star who calls herself the “hot-mess express,” a confident Nigerian beauty with a loud-and-proud personality,; a deceptively bubbly spitfire who is hiding a dark family secret, a California beach blonde who has a secret that ironically may make her the BachelorÕs perfect match, and a lovable phlebotomist all have in common? TheyÕre all on the hunt for love with Colton Underwood when the 23rd edition of ABCÕs hit romance reality series “The Bachelor” premieres with a live, three-hour special on MONDAY, JAN. 7 (8:00-11:00 p.m. EST), on The ABC Television Network. (ABC/Rick Rowell)
TAYSHIA
THE BACHELOR – “Episode 2301” – What does a pageant star who calls herself the “hot-mess express,” a confident Nigerian beauty with a loud-and-proud personality,; a deceptively bubbly spitfire who is hiding a dark family secret, a California beach blonde who has a secret that ironically may make her the BachelorÕs perfect match, and a lovable phlebotomist all have in common? TheyÕre all on the hunt for love with Colton Underwood when the 23rd edition of ABCÕs hit romance reality series “The Bachelor” premieres with a live, three-hour special on MONDAY, JAN. 7 (8:00-11:00 p.m. EST), on The ABC Television Network. (ABC/Rick Rowell)
CAELYNN, COLTON UNDERWOOD
THE BACHELOR – “Episode 2301” – What does a pageant star who calls herself the “hot-mess express,” a confident Nigerian beauty with a loud-and-proud personality,; a deceptively bubbly spitfire who is hiding a dark family secret, a California beach blonde who has a secret that ironically may make her the BachelorÕs perfect match, and a lovable phlebotomist all have in common? TheyÕre all on the hunt for love with Colton Underwood when the 23rd edition of ABCÕs hit romance reality series “The Bachelor” premieres with a live, three-hour special on MONDAY, JAN. 7 (8:00-11:00 p.m. EST), on The ABC Television Network. (ABC/Rick Rowell)
DEMI
He mused, There was just something different that we hadn’t seen in a Bachelorette before. Very kind of charming and goofy. When she had her intro video for The Bachelor and she said, ‘I’m Hannah—all aboard the hot mess express!’ you think that’s probably just shtick. And then we figured out, no that’s actually true. I think that came through on the live show, too, when she met the first five guys.”
In case you were wondering, producers are watching the current sentiment surrounding Hannah B. “Looking at the response, it feels like it was all over the map. I think some people thought, ‘Oh my gosh, how is this person going to be the Bachelorette when they seem to really not know what to say or where to stand or what to do?’” he explained. “And then there are people who said, ‘We’ve never seen this before and it seems endearing and charming.’ And I was in that camp. I think it’s very easy to teach somebody how to pick up a rose or say a name, but you can’t fake the natural sort of charm and nervousness and everything that she had, and I thought that was really, really great.”
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