The Bachelorette star Jenn Tran talks reality-TV fame, her Dancing with the Stars partner Sasha Farber, plans to go back to medical school – and using her fame for good

On the second day of some of the worst wildfires in California’s history, Jenn Tran spent her morning contacting evacuation centres near her Los Angeles home to offer help. Tran, who rose to fame as the first Asian-American star of The Bachelorette, was at a safe distance from the flames but eager to gather resources and support those in need. “In light of everything, what I’m most excited and grateful for is having a platform that allows me to reach so many people,” Tran shared. Since her breakout appearance in The Bachelor in September 2023, the cheerful New Jersey native and physician assistant student, who is known for her positivity and grounded personality, has amassed more than 600,000 Instagram followers. Now, Tran is using her fame for good. “I’m so antsy right now,” she admitted. “I want to be out there, doing something – on the front lines, just like I would in a hospital setting.” Tran, 27, is the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants. Her mother gave up her dream of pursuing a career in medicine to start a new life in the United States. Despite Tran’s recent fame – which embraced competing in Dancing with the Stars after her Bachelorette stint – she remains committed to her goal of becoming a physician assistant. She plans to return to her studies in March. “My passion is still in medicine and helping people,” said Tran. “I’m excited to go back to school. It’s not going to be easy. I took a year off and it’s a matter of rebuilding all that knowledge. I want to get back to the same calibre I was at before I left.” Tran is keenly aware that her reality TV identity may follow her into her medical career. “I went on a TV show where I cried my eyes out and let everyone in on all my vulnerabilities,” she said. “I understand that a lot of people will assume they know me. It’ll be interesting to be that person diagnosing them and giving them medical advice.” While Tran’s season of The Bachelorette (the show’s 21st) had its fair share of scenic moments – with trips to Melbourne and Auckland – it didn’t have the fairy-tale ending she had envisaged. In the final episode in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, Tran proposed to Devin Strader, a 28-year-old transport company owner from Houston. He accepted and proposed back, but their engagement ended abruptly a month later, before the finale even aired. “He was basically telling me that he would do anything, that he couldn’t live without me,” she said during the finale. “And then suddenly, the next day, it was like – nothing. He denied ever being in love.” In hindsight, Tran said of her Bachelorette experience: “It was different from what I thought it was going to be. I thought I was going to be engaged and happy, that I was going to get married. But I’ve had some time to reflect. Things happen for a reason, and life had other plans. I’m so happy another door opened for me.” That door led to her participation in Dancing with the Stars, which Tran described as “the best experience of my life”. “I watched the show a lot growing up and always wanted to learn how to dance,” she said. “This was the ultimate dream. When you’re dancing, you’re vulnerable in a different way. It’s a live show, and a different kind of pressure. But I loved it.” She has been romantically linked with her Dancing … partner Sasha Farber, about whom she said, “We’re having fun.” Emerging from her reality TV journey, Tran says she feels “a renewed energy and an understanding that life is going to be okay.” However, she has faced her share of negativity on social media and hasn’t shied away from addressing it. “I would love a world where social media is a positive space,” she said. “However, the reality is that it’s not. People are always going to have something to say – and honestly, people today love saying negative things and think they can say what they want without consequence. But on my channels, I will call people out.” Tran also highlighted the double standards women face in the media. “I saw it on my season,” she said. “Everything was always my fault, my problem. People love to blame the women and not hold men accountable. It wasn’t my job to mother these men and judge whether they are good or not. They should be good. Being a gentleman is the baseline.” Tran was surprised by the backlash she received as the first Asian-American Bachelorette – including criticism from members of her own community. “I knew there was going to be a lot of pressure on me,” she said. “The second I was announced, people of both Asian and non-Asian descent weren’t accepting of me. They didn’t like that I was Asian. Or that I spoke Vietnamese on the show. Or that I did something that wasn’t in keeping with Vietnamese tradition. Vietnamese people turned on me. They said, ‘We don’t claim her, we don’t want her.’ I realised that I wasn’t going to fit into any of those boxes because I’m a blend of both cultures.” Tran’s attempt to win hearts, she said, had to start with her mother. “She didn’t want me to go on [any of these shows],” Tran shared. “She came here with the American dream, to make a better life for me. To her, reality TV is not it. It was scary when I told her this was something I wanted to explore. It’s weird to have that conversation with the mother who gave up everything for you, and for you then to take an unknown path. I understand why she was scared for me. I honour that. I just wanted to make her proud.” Now, Tran is focused on her future as a student and what lies beyond. She hasn’t ruled out a return to reality TV or entertainment, but for now, her priority is earning her physician assistant qualifications and beginning her career in medicine. “That’s why I wanted to take a year off. Things are going to die down. The news turns every day. I always knew I was going to go back to school. I always had a back-up plan,” she said. “I wasn’t going to be jobless. I wasn’t going to ruin my reputation. I was going to be okay, no matter what. I was just going to be the best I could be.”