Jenn Tran has responded to ongoing dating rumors about Jonathon Johnson as the pair continue to spend time together after The Bachelorette finale.
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Jenn and Jonathon have gone on dinner dates, posted flirty TikTok videos, and attended parties together. And Jonathon was spotted cheering Jenn on for her first Dancing with the Stars performance on Tuesday night from the front row.
Jenn, 26, told Us Weekly that she feels lucky to have her "good friend" by her side following her devastating split from her The Bachelorette winner Devin Strader.
"Honestly, it just means so much," Jenn told the magazine at the September 17 live premiere of Dancing with the Stars.
"He's such a good friend of mine and to be able to be here in L.A. and to, like, cultivate that friendship with him now, it's exactly what I need right now is someone to lean on and he's been exactly that."
On Dancing with the Stars' Season 33 premiere, Jenn and her pro partner Sasha Farber performed a cha cha to "Flowers" by Miley Cyrus, which was selected as Jenn's anthem after her whirlwind The Bachelorette experience.
Jenn and Sasha received a score of 19 out of 30 possible points from Dancing with the Stars judges Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli, positioning them in the middle of the night's scoring leaderboard.
During Jenn's time to shine, cameras panned over to Jonathon sitting with fellow Bachelor Nation alums Justin Glaze, Susie Evans, Jason Tartick and Kelsey Anderson. (The Bachelor 28 star Joey Graziadei is also competing on the Dancing with the Stars season).
Jenn said she was actually "not expecting" such high scores from the judges.
"I was expecting all twos," Jenn quipped.
"I'm honestly just so excited. I had fun out there, which is just like the best part because I feel like I'm so critical of myself. So, the whole time I just want it to be perfect, but I'm happy that I was able to let loose and have fun."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOWJenn admitted she forgot to smile and have fun but she'll work on that in the coming weeks.
"I just want everything to be perfect, but the best tip is, like, let loose and have fun because that's when the hips come in and everything else comes in," Jenn shared with Us.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
Fans have been shipping Jenn and Jonathon as a couple ever since their first post-The Bachelorette reunion in early September.
"We're on such good terms," Jenn recently shared on the "Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe" podcast, adding how she wants to remain friends with some of the guys from her The Bachelorette season.
"I'm like, 'People are going to think I'm weird,' but no, I just want to be their friend!... Everything worked out the way that it needed to. I have so much love and gratitude for the guys on my season."
Jenn pointed out how fans will probably see her "grabbing a beer" with not only Jonathon, but her fourth-place The Bachelorette finisher Jeremy Simon as well.
"I want so badly to keep those friendships but nothing more than that," she noted.
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Jonathon noted that getting eliminated from The Bachelorette in third place made him feel like "everyone else can see" his worth "except for the person" he really wanted to see it.
"It's hard to go back on that... I'm not saying [getting back together] could never happen. I'm not saying that," Jonathon acknowledged.
However, Jonathon pointed out how Jenn will be living in Los Angeles for a few months, allowing them many opportunities to chat about the nature of their relationship and the future.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Nick advised Jonathon not to tease Bachelor Nation for too long about his relationship with Jenn if nothing is going to happen -- like in the case of The Bachelorette alums Hannah Brown and Tyler Cameron -- because people might turn on them.
"What if we don't know though?" Jonathon asked. "What if we can't make our minds up?"
The podcast's host Nick Viall therefore asked Jonathon point blank, "Do you want to try? Do you want to explore it?"
"I don't know," Jonathon replied. "Open-minded is probably where I stand... I genuinely have no idea."
As for why the pair didn't work out to begin with, Jenn explained on "Off the Vine" that "it just wasn't there" with Jonathon.
"I don't think he'll mind me saying this, but he just wasn't sure about doing long distance," Jenn revealed of the California-based creative director who works in ads and marketing.
"I was like, 'I live in Miami and I'm not going to be moving,' and he's not going to be moving."
Jenn elaborated, "So we were both kind of just like -- we didn't know if long distance-wise [how it would work]. If his heart wasn't in it and mine wasn't, then it wasn't going to work."
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Jonathon admitted on the August 29 episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast that he knew he was going home after Fantasy Suite dates.
"I think there was just an X factor missing... We were like, 'Everything is great, everything is fun, and we have no issues with each other!'" Jonathon recalled.
"There was no drama and it was just free and easy, but that next step was there [and we were behind]."
Jonathon regrettably waited too long to fully open his heart and express his feelings to Jenn, and so he left The Bachelorette's 21st season after Fantasy Suite dates lamenting about how he had gotten in his own way of finding true love.
Jenn ultimately got engaged to Devin at the Final Rose Ceremony in Hawaii, but she announced on The Bachelorette finale how he had dumped her in a brief early-August phone call that devastated her.
But if Jonathon and Jenn don't work out, he has an official invitation to look for love on Bachelor in Paradise's tenth season next year.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
