The Bachelorette star Jenn Tran has claimed Devin Strader basically ignored her for the two months they were together after they got engaged in Hawaii.
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But Devin started crushing Jenn's heart long before their official August 1 breakup on the phone.
"Leading up to that breakup, there were definitely red flags," Jenn told former The Bachelorette star Kaitlyn Bristowe.
"I owed it all to we were long distance and just came off a reality TV show. There's an adjustment period and I was being very gracious about that -- the fact we have so much love for each other but we've just got to figure out how to make this work in the real world."
Jenn has family in Boston but was living in Miami, FL, for PA school prior to starring on The Bachelorette, while Devin is a freight company owner from Houston, TX.
Jenn said she wanted to "keep dating" Devin after filming ended and "learn about each other" outside of their little The Bachelorette bubble.
"Making that effort can be hard sometimes, and he's never been in a long-distance relationship before," Jenn explained.
"So I was making excuses for him. I was like, 'Oh, he didn't call me for 18 hours? And I don't know where he is. Well, it's okay! He's probably just -- I don't know!' And that happened a lot."
Jenn, whose final Rose Ceremony filmed in mid-May, recalled her two months of being engaged to Devin after the show "tough," mainly because his absence was causing many "scenarios to play out" in her mind.
"I was like, 'Does he not love me anymore? Is he cheating on me?'... And each time, I don't know, I forgave it. I was like, 'We're long distance and he doesn't know how to use a phone,'" Jenn said with a laugh.
Jenn claimed that Devin blamed his "sleeping schedule" at first.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW"He said, 'It's been off. I came off the show and it's been different. I'm just so tired all the time.' And when I got off The Bachelor the first time, I was very anti-social. I couldn't really [adjust] to real life, so I got all that," Jenn explained.
Jenn pointed out how settling back into one's normal life is "tough" after appearing on The Bachelor franchise.
"I was like, 'He's just going through an adjustment period,' and I needed to be there for him as best as I could. But it was one thing after another," Jenn noted.
Jenn vented to Kaitlyn about how Devin simply "wasn't putting effort" into their relationship.
"We never had a date night in the time that we were long distance!" Jenn complained.
"What?!" Kaitlyn asked in shock.
"Yes, we had Happy Couples [that producers had planned], but he was never like, 'Let's get on the phone and talk,' or, 'Let's do this together. It would be fun!'" Jenn explained.
"We never did that in the two months after the show when we were dating."
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Jenn said the guy she had promised her life to on The Bachelorette was a man who was "so in love," promised her the world, and was going to do anything to make their relationship work.
But Jenn said the man she was engaged to after filming was pretty different.
"He was like, 'Wait, I never said that I wanted to move to California. I actually don't.' And I was like, 'Oh okay, this is different. I thought you had told me that and meant that," Jenn shared.
"And then suddenly it was like, 'No, I don't want to get married so quick.' And I was like, 'Okay, that's fine too.' But it was one thing after another. The words he was saying to me seemed like things he just wanted to say to please me in the moment and not actually followed through out."
Jenn claimed Devin had told her on The Bachelorette that he'd fly to see her "all the time" and they wouldn't "have to stay within the rules of the 'Happy Couple' [visits]. He said, 'If we can't see each other, we'll see each other.'"
But Jenn said she and Devin went an entire month without seeing each other after their engagement in Hawaii.
"Things came up, so I was like, 'They're not letting us see each other this week. Just fly out and come see me in Miami.' The show hadn't aired yet, so I was like, 'No one knows who you are and we'll stay inside all weekend,'" Jenn recalled of a conversation with Devin.
"And he was like, 'No, I don't want to do that. I just booked a trip to Mexico and I'm not buying another flight to Miami.' I was like, 'It's 200 bucks! I can give you the 200 dollars.'"
Jenn therefore reiterated how Devin's effort "wasn't there anymore" and he was emotionally -- and physically -- distant.
"He didn't want to see me," Jenn lamented.
"It's weird! And I can't wrap my head around it. I don't know what happened, and I still don't really understand how someone's feelings and emotions and effort can change almost overnight."
Throughout Jenn's The Bachelorette season, Devin seemed head over heels in love with Jenn. He made bold love proclamations to Jenn and nearly quit the show out of panic when he feared Jenn didn't reciprocate his feelings.
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At times, Devin laughed things off, such as when Jenn called him out for following fellow The Bachelor 28 alum Maria Georgas on Instagram the day after their breakup and going clubbing with Jeremy Simon instead of working on himself and being "so sad."
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According to Jenn, she was never Devin's priority after The Bachelorette wrapped.
Jenn alleged that Devin began "pulling away" and pretty much ghosted her until he finally dumped her in a 15-minute phone call in August. Jenn questioned how Devin could go from not being able to live without her to treating her like she's "nothing."
Jenn told The Bachelorette host Jesse Palmer on After the Final Rose, "He said something felt off from the second he proposed and that he regretted getting engaged... He denied ever being in love."
When asked what changed, Jenn said on Good Morning America that she had no idea what caused Devin's sudden change of heart about their relationship.
"I was so happy and I was so ready to start our life together," Jenn shared.
"But I noticed his energy had shifted and his priorities shifted. He wasn't the same person he was on the show, off of the show."
Devin didn't explain why exactly he had fallen out of love with Jenn and broken up with her, except for saying that he "fell short" of her expectations for him in the real world.
"I found myself not being able to live up to the things that you need and deserve," Devin acknowledged during the finale broadcast.
Devin said he watched Jenn grow leaps and bounds on the show, only to contribute to her "recession," which really hurt him at the end of the day.
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"You have done nothing wrong," Devin said.
Devin admitted he had "failed" Jenn, who insisted she had "fought" so hard to save their relationship.
But Jenn will be trading in roses for dancing shoes when she competes on Dancing with the Stars' upcoming 33rd season with pro partner Sasha Farber.
Jenn recently wrote on Instagram that she's in a stage of "heavy grieving" after her breakup with Devin but she'll "always root for him" in life.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
