Fans of “The Bachelorette” were surprised by Jenn Tran’s pre-Fantasy Suite sitdown—because it wasn’t with a former “Bachelorette.”
The ABC dating show typically features a past lead giving advice to the current star ahead of the overnight dates. But for Tran’s season, the advice giver was Molly Malaney Mesnick, the wife of “Bachelor” season 13 star Jason Mesnick. Not only was Malaney never a “Bachelorette,” but she wasn’t even technically Mesnick’s final pick during his season in 2009.
Fans Questioned Why Molly Malaney Was Brought in For Tran’s Fantasy Suite Chat
The Mesnicks previously appeared together during Tran’s group date at a radio station in Seattle, but when it came time for Fantasy Suite advice, Tran had a one-on-one with Malaney to get candid advice.
In a scene filmed in Hawaii, Tran sat down with Malaney to talk about how she was “falling” for her three final guys: Devin Strader, Jonathon Johnson, and Marcus Shoberg.
Malaney told her, “I think this week is the most important week of this entire experience because you get so much dedicated alone time with Fantasy Suites.”
“You know for Jason and myself, that was our time to like, really have those deep deep, hard conversations,” Malaney continued.
She then talked to Tran about her final three guys. In a confessional, Malaney said, “I hope for Jenn that she has total clarity after doing these Fantasy dates. You know, it’s hard. She’s got three great guys here. How do you choose? I don’t envy her position at all. And so, I’m hoping when she takes the time to ask those hard questions, she’s able to come out of it and see a clear path of this is my person, or maybe this isn’t my person.”
Fans reacted on social media, with some questioning why Malaney was chosen to give advice on the Fantasy Suites, of all things.
“Why is Jenn speaking to Molly?? Molly was never the Bachelorette, and she wasn’t even the one Jason proposed to at the end of the show. Are we just pulling in any rando to give Jenn advice now??” one fan wrote on X.
“Honestly still trying to figure out why they brought Molly in for the advice chat… when she was never the Bachelorette…. Why are we trying to make Molly happen now?” another wanted to know.
“No hate to Molly. But why is she here again? She wasn’t even a bachelorette….?” a third chimed in.
“Really??? Come on Molly, you were the second choice. You were sent home, and Melissa was chosen,” another wrote on a YouTube comment.
Molly Malaney Was Part of One of the Most Controversial Moments in Bachelor Nation History
ABC/YouTubeMelissa Rycroft; Molly Malaney
Malaney has been married to Jason Mesnick for 15 years, but it didn’t start easy. At the end of Mesnick’s season, he proposed to Melissa Rycroft and gave her his final rose.
But during his season’s “After the Final Rose” special, Mesnick blindsided Rycroft by ending their engagement on-camera and admitting he still had feelings for his runner-up, Malaney. The move sent shock waves through “The Bachelor” franchise as it was revealed that Mesnick had secretly been in contact with Malaney behind Rycroft’s back. Malaney then came from backstage to reunite with Mesnick after Rycroft left broken-hearted.
Rycroft went on to marry a hometown beau, Tye Strickland, in 2009, while Mensick and Malaney wed the following year.
During a 2020 appearance “The Bachelor: Greatest Seasons – Ever!” Rycroft admitted she has never watched Mesnick’s season of the show. She also admitted that she had “heard” from another bachelorette that her then-fiancé had talked to Malaney after filming. Rycroft claimed Mesnick assured her he had just called to check in on Malaney after breaking things off with her on the show.
“But I never thought, though, that it was anything beyond him just ‘checking’ on her,” Rycroft said.
Of Mesnick’s “After the Final Rose” blindside, Rycroft added, “I’ll be honest. What happened was not how I ever thought that it could have gone. When he looked at me and said, “I don’t you, I want her,’ I [exploded]. What is happening right now? The one person I should have been able to trust in all of this is the one that I felt like had deceived me. Immediately after, I went to my hotel room and was like, ‘What the heck?'”
In December 2023, Rycroft appeared on the “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast and revealed she rejected an offer to become “The Bachelorette” because she felt producers already threw her “under the bus” once.
