It’s been a whirlwind 12 hours for Jenn Tran. Moments after stepping off the stage following the live finale of The Bachelorette, the season 21 lead learned she’d been offered a spot on Dancing With the Stars.
“I got off stage, was crying in my dressing room and then they’re like, ‘Alright, 45 minutes, you gotta get on a flight. We’re doing it,’” Jenn, 26, told Us Weekly exclusively on Wednesday, September 4, following the DWTS cast announcement on Good Morning America.
Jenn’s partner, Sasha Farber, also found out that he was going to be on the show late last night.
“I got a call, it was early in the morning, saying, ‘You need to get on a flight in 45 minutes. And I was flying down to get to the airport. I didn’t have a ticket,” Farber, 40, explained. “I didn’t even meet her. I see her running to security. I was like, ‘That must Jenn, good, I need to be where she’s going.'”
Bachelor Nation watched Jenn’s dramatic finale play out on Tuesday, September 3. After she sent home runner-up Marcus Shoberg, she told host Jesse Palmer that she planned to propose to Devin Strader. ABC subsequently cut back to the live portion of the show, and Jenn revealed that Devin, 28, ended their engagement over the phone, blindsiding Jenn by how he handled their breakup.
“What I can’t understand is everything you did, after you broke our engagement, ending the engagement in a phone call,” she told Devin, getting upset as she revealed he followed fellow Bachelor Nation star Maria Georgas via Instagram the morning after their split. Jenn also noted Devin was out partying with his fellow Bachelorette contestants and promoting the show like nothing happened.
While Devin acknowledged he knows “how much” his actions “hurt” Jenn, he struggled to take accountability, simply saying he let her know his feelings changed “regretfully late.”
For now, Jenn is focused on her DWTS journey — which includes competing against her former Bachelor, Joey Graziadei.
“I think after a heartbreak, you know, I’ve been through so many of these and after a big one, I really just need a different direction in my life,” Jenn told Us about joining the cast. “And dancing is something that I’ve always wanted to learn to do. So this new era is really just for me and I’m really excited about it.”
For more from Jenn, watch the interview above. Dancing With the Stars premieres on ABC Tuesday, September 17, at 8 p.m. ET.