In an explosive “Bachelorette” finale Tuesday night, one guy emerged as a fan favorite — and he wasn’t a contestant.
Bachelorette Jenn Tran’s brother, James Tran, was declared by fans to basically be the only stand-up guy onscreen in the three-hour long bombshell of a finale. James started off by grilling the men and politely declining to offer a marriage blessing to contestant Devin Strader.
Strader would go on to break off an engagement to Jenn by phone after she proposed to him on camera.
James, however, was highly praised by fans for his part in attempting to vet the contestants, being vocal about his concerns over Tran’s suitors, and his overall brotherly wisdom.
During the finale, Tran had to sit next to Strader and watch the moment that she proposed to him in Hawaii after her relationship with finalist Marcus Stroberg came to an end.
Tran, who dissolved into tears, had explained to the studio audience that Strader began pulling away before breaking off the engagement.
To make matters worse, Tran said the next day Strader followed fellow “Bachelor” contestant Maria Georgas on social media. Many of the contestants, who were cast before the bachelorette was announced, said they initially assumed Georgas would be the lead in this season. And fans have since criticized the show’s timing in the announcement.
The show did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
“He had basically said that he didn’t love me anymore and didn’t feel the same way,” Tran said of Strader. “He regretted getting engaged.”
Strader said in the episode that he was “regretfully late” in expressing his doubts. But Tran said she didn’t buy it.
“I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you," Tran said. “You had one foot out the door the entire time.”
Fans pointed to what they saw was one silver lining of the night — James questioning Stroberg’s emotional availability and being tough on Strader. And in the end, fans pointed out, James’ intuition ended up being correct.
For viewers, James was a bright light in what was supposed to be a pioneering season of the franchise with Tran being the first Asian American star of “The Bachelorette.” Instead, however, fans have been vocal about its ending, calling out the show for being “cruel” for making Tran sit through the failed engagement live, and forcing her to interact further with Strader.
For Tran, who spoke to NBC News after the season premiere, the highlight of her “Bachelorette” experience has always been her family.
“What really hit me was seeing my family on TV,” Tran said. “My Vietnamese culture is being present … Things like that have always felt so close to me, but they’ve always only been in my home, so to have it on TV and normalized to have other people experience — I’m so excited for that.”
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