In this season of “The Bachelorette,” earning a rose is about more than just chemistry. The lead, Jenn Tran, is emphasizing religious compatibility as well.
In a recent episode, Tran shared with a contestant how she’d like to eventually instill Buddhist beliefs in her kids — the religion she was raised in growing up in a Vietnamese American family in New Jersey.
“There’s a lot of traditions there, too, that I want to bring into a family as well,” Tran told contestant Devin Strader on episode four. “We go to temple every Lunar New Year and other holidays, and that’s something I want to instill in my children.”
Much has been made of the increasing racial diversity in “The Bachelor” franchise, but fans say they are also excited to finally see religious diversity.
This season is giving what some say is a refreshingly surprising amount of airtime to Tran’s Buddhist beliefs, as well as some of the Jewish contestants’ religious upbringings — all of which critics say has been avoided in the past given the show’s mostly white Christian fan base.
Her openness about her religious identity has prompted her suitors to disclose theirs as well.
During a one-on-one-date with contestant Jeremy Simon on last Monday’s episode, Simon voiced his desire to raise his children within the Jewish culture someday. He told Tran: “Being Jewish is culturally very important to me. I don’t expect you to convert, I don’t need you to convert, but eventually I do want kids, and I think that having a Jewish identity [is important] because of what’s happened to Jews in the past.”
In response, Tran told Simon that Buddhism was something she also wouldn’t want to give up. “Being around the faith, which I do love — I’d want to have my mom teach those things to our kids.
And fans say they’re here for it.
Sam Mandel, a 33-year-old half-Taiwanese, half-Jewish viewer, told NBC News that she was able to see herself in both Tran and Simon onscreen and appreciated that they expressed how much their religions meant to them.
“I grew up celebrating both Jewish and Buddhist holidays,” said Mandel, who’s from Portland, Oregon. “I loved that they talked about coexisting in healthy relationships while maintaining important parts of yourself.”
Emma Gray, a co-host of the pop culture podcast “Love to See It,” said she thinks it’s momentous to have representations about Judaism and Buddhism on the show. Gray, who is Jewish, said historically, the show avoided overt conversations about religion because producers thought it would alienate the audience, and that any mentions of religious identity have only focused on evangelical Christianity. Representatives for ABC declined to comment.
“It’s pretty special to see members of two minority religious groups talk about respecting and merging those cultures,” said Gray, who is also an MSNBC columnist. “There was an understanding of the need to pass cultural and communal ties on that members of dominant religious groups wouldn’t necessarily understand.”
Listeners of the podcast chimed in on a TikTok of Tran and Simon’s exchange with one viewer commenting, “As a Taiwanese/Jewish person who grew up with both Buddhism and Judaism influence/values, there’s a lot of overlap and it’s beautiful and can definitely work if both parties are respectful and open.”
The show has dipped a toe in highlighting different religions in the past. “Bachelor” leads who identify as Jewish include Jason Mesnick, who was the 13th season’s bachelor in 2009, and Andi Dorfman, who was the 10th season’s bachelorette in 2014.
In season 27 of “The Bachelor,” Zach Shallcross met contestant Ariel Frenkel’s family in New York City, where she took him to a Jewish deli and discussed the importance of her faith.
In 2023, during the first season of “The Golden Bachelor” spin-off, contestant Leslie Fhima and a few other contestants do the hora in the pool, singing “Hava Nagila,” a Hebrew song traditionally sung at celebrations.
Gray said these couples are an accurate reflection of what it means to date in a country where the number of interfaith marriages is increasing. “It’s just reflective of reality,” she said. “People are dating across religious, ethnic, and racial lines and encountering people from different backgrounds.”
But she emphasized Tran’s representation has a greater significance beyond religion. “We’re seeing someone like Jenn who doesn’t fall into a white hegemonic Christian culture as worthy of being paid attention to by a diverse swath of people and thought of as desirable,” Gray said.
