Bachelor Nation’s Tenley Molzahn can’t get enough of her life as a mother of two.
“I’m absolutely in love and definitely in the phase of, ‘Is this really my life?’” Molzahn, 40, exclusively told Us Weekly at the Swirl x Z Supply Summer Collection Party at Swirl Boutique in Carlsbad, California on Saturday, June 22. “I have two daughters now, which is crazy. I’m kind of still grasping the fact that this is my life. I’m loving it.”
Molzahn and her husband, Taylor Leopold, welcomed their second daughter, Banks, in May. The pair, who wed in 2018, are also parents to 3-year-old daughter Rell.
“It’s totally challenging though having a three-and-a-half year old and a newborn,” she said. “The three-and-a-half year old wants my time and attention and I want to give it all to her but [the] baby needs me for survival. It’s just different this time around.”
When her daughters get older, Molzahn wouldn’t be opposed to them watching her accept roses on Jake Pavelka’s season of The Bachelor. She noted, “But I don’t [want to] rush.”
Back in 2010, Molzahn joined Bachelor Nation while appearing on Pavelka’s season of the ABC dating series. After Pavelka, 46, gave his final rose to Vienna Girardi, runner-up Molzahn went on to join both Bachelor Pad and Bachelor in Paradise. Pavelka and Girardi, 38, ended their engagement months after the 2010 season finale.
While Molzahn didn’t find The One within the Bachelor franchise, she exchanged vows with Leopold — who hasn’t seen her on any of the shows.
“I learned that my season of The Bachelor with Jake was on Hulu,” she said. “It just popped up and I was curious. My husband, who works for a shoe company, had a call with China one evening and we were just sitting on the couch. My first daughter was in bed and so I was like, ‘Oh, I’m just gonna push play and see how I feel.’ Then all of sudden, I see myself kissing Jake and then crying about it.”
She continued: “I was like, ‘I can’t watch this. I can’t watch this. Nevermind.’ I think he was distracted but I think the only one that I would let him watch would be Jake’s season because it was such a different time.”
While vying for the affections of Pavelka, Molzahn explained that she was “fragile” and “naive.” She explained, “I was going through a lot of big life changes. I feel like he could see such a big growth between who I am today as his wife and the mother of his children to that little girl. I think that would be okay for him to see but then I’d just get uncomfortable watching the kissing.”
Molzahn, who noted that the experience was “very real,” said that she and Pavelka “briefly” reconnected when The Bachelor season 14 and Bachelor Pad contestant Gia Allemand died. (Allemand committed suicide in August 2013.)
“We got on the phone and we kind of emoted together,” Molzahn recalled of Pavelka. “It was really, really hard. She’s such a sweetheart and then we did Bachelor Pad together.”
While Molzahn was asked by a Bachelor producer whether she’d be “interested” in the gig, she told Us she doesn’t think she “would have been a good Bachelorette.” Molzahn noted that she’s happy with how her life turned out. “I’m so grateful for everything worked out, but it’s been quite a road,” she said.
While she navigates life as a new mother of two, Molzahn can be seen wearing the Z Supply summer collection.
“I love Swirl Boutique and this Z Supply dress is just perfect and nursing friendly,” she said. “I just had a baby four weeks ago so it’s forgiving a little bit and nursing friendly. I just love Z supply and how comfortable everything is. I can just live in their clothes because it’s like butter.”
With reporting by Mike Vulpo
