Molly Mesnick had one major takeaway from her appearance on Jenn Tran’s season 21 of The Bachelorette.
“[The producers] gave us a rundown on all of the guys coming,” Mesnick said on the Tuesday, August 13, episode of the “Almost Famous” podcast. “I mean, the biggest thing they honed in on is that she was obsessed with Sam [McKinney].”
Molly and her husband, former Bachelor Jason Mesnick, made a cameo during the Monday, August 12, episode of the ABC reality series for a group date at a Seattle iHeart radio station. The couple, who wed in 2010, noted that they weren’t briefed on Jenn’s contestants until an hour before the date began.
“But it’s surprising to me — I don’t know why it’s surprising, I know how the show works — they really were like, ‘She is obsessed with him, she loves him, she can’t get him out of her head,’” Molly said. “But then watching the season up to this point, they don’t make it seem like that. So editing is a tricky, funny thing.”
Molly noted that she was informed another suitor from the group date was “more of the villain that people were getting in fights with.” While she remained tight-lipped on who the contestant was, she added, “That’s not at all how it’s being presented on the show.”
While Sam appeared to be a frontrunner from the beginning of the show — and even got the first impression rose during the premiere episode — Jenn sent him packing after leaving their group date feeling unsettled.
Based on their conversations with Jenn and the producers, Jason noted that he “can’t believe it went the way it did.”
“I thought she was all in on this guy and he was hometown dates for sure,” he said. “I mean I knew that in the end he wasn’t going to be the right fit, but I’m like, she loved this guy. And within 12 hours, or maybe 24 hours, he was gone. Like, what the heck happened?”
Jason noted that Jenn gushed to him and Molly that she had a connection with Sam. “She also liked him … She walked in and we were like, ‘OK, c’mon just tell us, who do you like?’ She’s like, ‘Sam, Sam, Sam, Sam, Sam, Sam,’” he said. “And I was like, ‘OK, let’s dig into Sam.’”
Molly and Jason ultimately awarded Sam one-on-one time with Jenn following the group date — but things didn’t go smoothly.
“We saw her face change mid-conversation,” Molly recalled. “Like, you could almost see the light bulb go off in her head where it’s like, ‘This guy ain’t it.’”
After sending Sam home on Monday, Jenn also said goodbye to Spencer Conley and Grant Ellis, who was announced as the next lead of the franchise. With their eliminations, Jenn has narrowed her contestants down to four: Devin Strader, Marcus Shoberg, Jonathon Johnson and Jeremy Simon. The men will each take Jenn to their respective hometowns during the Monday, August 19, episode.
The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
