Jenn Tran has revealed she only found out she's going to compete on Dancing with the Stars' upcoming 33rd season after The Bachelorette's live finale broadcast ended.
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Jenn, her The Bachelor 28 ex Joey Graziadei, and 11 other celebrities will be competing on Dancing with the Stars when it premieres live on Tuesday, September 17 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC and Disney+.
"I found out as soon as I got done [with the finale last night]," Jenn confirmed to Glamour on September 4, which explains GMA co-host Lara Spencer calling Jenn's Dancing with the Stars professional partner a "surprise add" during the cast's announcement on the morning show.
Unlike the other 24 members of Dancing with the Stars' Season 33 cast, ABC also didn't release in-costume publicity photos of Jenn and Sasha on September 4 -- an omission which had also hinted at the last-minute nature of the pair's addition.
Instead, the network only finally released in-costume publicity photos of Jenn and Sasha two days later on September 6.
During her interview with Glamour, Jenn recalled how she "previously had a meeting" about potentially participating in the new Dancing with the Stars season.
"They were just like, 'We don't know yet.' I had thought that the ship had sailed, so I was very much not expecting it because I had known that the announcement was going to happen this morning," Jenn explained.
"I was like, 'If I haven't heard, it's probably just not in the cards for me.' To my surprise, when I got offstage, I was crying and they were like, 'You're going on Dancing with the Stars and you've got to get on a plane in 45 minutes and you can't pack anything. Make sure to have your ID.'"
Jenn therefore rushed to the airport.
"I was like, 'Is this real life? Is this really happening? Can people do this? Who pulls these strings?'" Jenn quipped.
After having her heart broken by her The Bachelorette ex-fiance Devin Strader, Dancing with the Stars will serve as a nice distraction for Jenn -- and it will hopefully assist her on her healing journey.
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"I was just so excited and so happy," Jenn said of the Dancing with the Stars opportunity.
"And it was nice to be able to have that happiness in a moment of me very clearly not being very happy, so I was very, very grateful for that."
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On The Bachelorette's "historic" Season 21 finale, Jenn announced that Devin had broken up with her on the phone shortly after they got engaged in Hawaii and then followed Maria Georgas -- who had been considered for The Bachelorette role -- on Instagram.
Jenn and Devin had an emotional confrontation in which sobbed and said he had disrespected her and treated her like she's "nothing."
And then Jenn's emotional state worsened when ABC decided to air Jenn's marriage proposal to Devin. As home viewers watched Jenn pop the question to Devin and present him with a ring, they showed Jenn's devastated face in the corner of the screen.
The Bachelorette has since faced backlash for wronging Jenn and being cruel.
Jenn therefore told Glamour that Dancing with the Stars was "maybe" ABC's apology to her or way up making up for her emotional torment.
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"I'm so happy to be able to do something that I've always wanted to do, which is learn to dance. I grew up watching this show and so I have always wanted to be on it, so it's really a dream come true."
During a separate interview with Entertainment Tonight alongside Sasha, Jenn elaborated about how ABC informed her she had been cast on Dancing with the Stars.
"It was right after the finale. I was in my dressing room and they said, 'You've got to hop on a flight in 45 minutes.' I was sprinting through the airport. I met Sasha at the airport. He was all sweaty and was sprinting through the airport," Jenn recalled.
"It's the best way to meet!" Sasha joked. "I was sweaty. I had a shirt [over my shoulder]. She was like, 'Hey you must be Sasha!' We hugged but then we had to keep going!"
Sasha said she didn't even get to sit with Jenn on the plane because their casting was so last minute.
"When I did try to speak to her [from our middle seats], the person in the aisle was like, 'Really, you guys are talking?'" Sasha said.
"I was trying to take a nap," Jenn admitted.
"And I was like, 'Tell me what's going on!'" Sasha recalled.
"He was trying to give me the rundown on things and this lady next to us was trying to sleep. It was 2AM!" Jenn said with a laugh.
Although Jenn was given barely any notice of her Dancing with the Stars casting, she knew for a while that it could be a possibility for her.
"There were some talks; I just didn't know if it was going to happen or not," Jenn explained.
"But yeah, last night was the official go. And I was like, 'F-ck yeah! Let's do it!'"
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Jenn concluded that she's "so excited" to be on the show and try something she's "always wanted to learn how to do." She said she's also ready for "a little friendly competition" with Joey.
However, Jenn insisted that she doesn't have men on her mind because she's in her "I hate men" era -- except for Sasha!
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
