ABC has been criticised for a “cruel” ending to The Bachelorette after it forced star Jenn Tran to rewatch his ill-fated proposal while crying uncontrollably.
The network has been accused of humiliating the 26-year-old during Tuesday night’s explosive three-hour season finale.
Tran, a physician assistant student from Hillsdale, New Jersey, proposed to Devin Strader, 28, in Hawaii, but he broke off the relationship over the phone shortly after the program ended and refused to speak to her for months.
Tran was then forced to sit alongside Strader and relive the pain of their breakup in front of millions of viewers after the show’s host, Jesse Palmer, asked if they should watch a video of his proposal.
“Do I have a choice?” a desolate Tran asked before the clip played, causing her to break down in tears for the duration of the video.
ABC has come under fire for a “cruel” ending to The Bachelorette after forcing star Jenn Tran to rewatch her ill-fated proposal while crying uncontrollably.
Her treatment, especially as the show’s first Asian-American lead, has sparked fury at ABC, with many fans vowing to boycott the series entirely.
“I feel sick to my stomach! Jenn shouldn’t have gone through all that. How dare you ABC!” TikTok user Layla Taremi raged.
Another, Allie Renee, posted a tearful video stating she would never watch the franchise again.
“What the producers put Jenn through was completely evil,” Renee said.
‘Despite the way casting works, the fact that so many men went in expecting a different woman set her up for failure from the start.
“I just feel like watching the final episode of the rose was really horrible.”
‘Have we waited this long for an Asian-American bachelorette to end up like this?’ Melissa Hong said. ‘I’m completely horrified by how she was treated… The crew seemed so dismissive, so cruel, so ignored.
“As an Asian American, I think a lot of us felt like Jenn wasn’t given a second thought. Her trauma was just glossed over.
“You just saw a woman at the height of her heartbreak. I’m very disappointed. I know it’s a reality show, but at the end of the day, she deserves better.”
Tran was forced to relive the pain of her breakup as she sat next to the man who caused it when the show screened his proposal to Devin Shrader during the finale on Tuesday.
Viewers took to social media to express their anger at ABC, with some vowing to never watch the show again.
Even Good Morning America host Lara Spencer admitted she found it “hard to watch” the ending during Tran’s first interview since the controversy, which took place Wednesday morning.
During the segment, Tran said she didn’t regret proposing to Shrader, but that he was clearly not the same man she had fallen in love with.
The segment ended with the revelation that Tran will be appearing on the next season of Dancing With the Stars and Spencer saying “you did great” as she closed out the interview.
The Bachelorette’s final week premiered in Hawaii with Jenn saying she was in love with Strader and Marcus Shoberg, a 32-year-old Army veteran from Cloquet, Minnesota. Her family had flown in to support her.
Tran shared with her parents that Strader had already told her he loved her, but Marcus hadn’t said it yet.
She ended up choosing Strader and proposing to him, and the owner of the Houston-based trucking company proposed back.
But during the live finale, Tran said that as soon as they left Hawaii, things were different.
She said Strader began to pull away and she felt secondary in his life, explaining through tears that Strader called her and broke off the engagement.
“I obviously failed you,” Devin said. “Everything I felt for you was real.”
The show’s host, Jesse Palmer, told Jenn he was sorry it didn’t work out for her.
Devin and Jenn kissed after getting engaged in Hawaii
“He basically told me that he didn’t love me anymore and that he didn’t feel the same way about me,” Tran said. “He regretted getting engaged.”
Palmer said he was shocked. Tran said he didn’t understand what had changed and that he had last seen him about a month ago.
He also revealed that he had become friends with The Bachelor alum Maria Georgas, who had appeared on the same season of The Bachelor as Jenn, shortly after their breakup and was spotted partying with her co-star Jeremy Simon, despite reportedly being heartbroken.
When Strader came out and joined Jenn on stage, she told him she could try to understand someone changing their mind, but she couldn’t understand him ending the engagement with a phone call. She said it was disrespectful to see him following Maria on Instagram the next day.
“That completely invalidated our relationship,” Jenn said.
“It’s obvious that I failed you,” Strader said. “Everything I felt for you was real.”
Strader said that when filming wrapped, he had a lot of doubts. Jenn said she kept all her doubts to herself.
In her first interview since the controversy, Tran said she did not regret proposing to Shrader, but did not address the backlash.
But even host Lara Spencer acknowledged the finale was “hard to watch” before assuring Tran she had done a good job.
“Unfortunately I was late in letting you know,” Strader said, eliciting groans from the audience.
“I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you,” Tran said. “You had one foot out the door the whole time.”
Strader said she felt she couldn’t live up to her expectations and what she deserved.
It was very different from the final scenes of their relationship on the show, when Strader told Tran that she was the most important thing in his life.
“I love the idea of being with you forever,” he said.