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Her personal story. Her breakup with Joey. Her talk with Kelsey. Everything seemed to lead to Daisy as the Season 21 lead. So why is Daisy not the Bachelorette and did she turn it down? Well, there’s more to the story than Bachelor Nation knows. Keep reading for what we know about why Daisy is not the Bachelorette and what happened.
Daisy Kent was a contestant on The Bachelor Season 28 with Joey Graziadei. Daisy, who was the runner-up, was a fan favorite to be the next Bachelorette, along with Maria Georgas, another contestant who came in fourth place Joey’s season. Daisy was especially a fan favorite during The Bachelor Season 28 finale, which saw her break up with Joey and tell his winner, Kelsey Anderson, that she was the one Joey planned to choose after realizing Joey’s feelings for Kelsey were stronger. Reality Steve confirmed on his podcast in March 2024 that the next Bachelorette was likely between Maria and Daisy Kent, who made it to the finale of The Bachelor Season 28. “This is probably a situation where it’s between Maria and Daisy,” Steve said. “I think the show is very well aware that they are deciding between Maria and Daisy, I do not think they have made a decision yet.”
He continued, “ABC can do whatever they want because they’ve got us all over a barrel just dissecting everything. They’ve told people in the past they are the lead, and all of a sudden they weren’t. Because they changed their mind at the last minute… It’s a 50/50 shot, it’s not like, oh my gosh, someone’s gonna come out of left field,” Steve said. “No, it’s more than likely, based on everything I’ve heard, going to be between Daisy or Maria.”
However, that turned out to be wrong when Jenn Tran, another contestant from The Bachelor Season 28 who was sent home in Week 7, was announced as the Season 21 Bachelorette during the “After the Final Rose” special. The announcement made Jenn the first Bachelor Nation lead of Asian descent in the franchise’s 22-year history. “It’s crazy. It feels so surreal to be sitting here,” Jenn told host Jesse Palmer. “I hope I find my person, someone that I truly feel like is 100 percent my perfect match and someone that I’m compatible with. Someone I can have fun and also just like feel like we are each other’s person.”
The news was a shock to fans who thought that Daisy or Maria would be the next Bachelorette instead. So why is Daisy not the Bachelorette and did she turn down the role? Read on for what we know about why Daisy is not the Bachelorette and what happened after filming ended.
Why is Daisy not the Bachelorette and did she turn it down?
Why is Daisy not the Bachelorette and did she turn it down? Daisy seemed to confirm that she turned down the role as the Season 21 Bachelorette during The Bachelor Season 28 finale. She told host Jesse Palme during The Bachelor Season 28 “After the Final Rose” special that she wasn’t ready to be the next Bachelorette after because she was still processing how her season with Joey ended. “Are you ready to open up again and date again and find your person?” Jesse asked Daisy, who responded, “So my life, the last year has been crazy. I mean, yesterday, it’s weird, it was the one year of me getting my cochlear implant, which completely changed my life.”
She continued, “Also I went through this and as great of an experience as it was, it was also really, really hard. I’m healthy and I’m happy, and I haven’t had those two things in a really long time. Right now, I know it’s a time for me to focus on the things that I love and the people I love and so right now, no, I’m not ready, and that’s OK. And I’m really proud of myself for realizing that.”
Daisy also echoed the same sentiment in an Instagram post after The Bachelor Season 28 finale. “imagine how much I can love the right person,” she captioned a photo of her and Joey’s breakup at the Final Rose Ceremony.
Season 21 Bachelor Nick Viall also claimed on an episode of his podcast “The Viall Files” before Jenn was announced as the next Bachelorette that he believed that a resurfaced video of Daisy in rapper Abe$’s “Sundown” music video in 2021 could’ve prevented her from being the next Bachelorette.
“When a video comes out of Daisy singing, she’s in a song where he’s like ‘Suck on my nuts and lick on my balls,’ they might have been like, ‘I don’t know, how about Maria?’” Nick said at the time. “It might have always been Maria, she’s clearly super popular, but it’s possible.”
He continued, “I remember having dinner with [someone] who used to be the showrunner of the show, who is no longer the showrunner, but we were catching up before I was named the Bachelor. It was after Kaitlyn [Bristowe]’s season and Ben [Higgins] was the Bachelor. And again, I think Ben was always going to be the Bachelor, but I got done with Kaitlyn’s season and I was just taking the summer off. It was the summer of Nick, I didn’t go back to work right away. I was all kind of fucked up from the show… I was working out and shit and I was posting thirst traps. And they were like, ‘That ruined your chances posting like, ‘I’m working out’ and arguably douchey, fuckboy type of shit.’”
Before Jenn was announced as the next Bachelorette, a source told DeuxMoi in March 2024 that Daisy was in talks to become the next Bachelorette for 2024 after she was seen at dinner with two producers from The Bachelor franchise. “Hi Deux! Back again- and at Baltaire again too lol. Spotted daisy from The Bachelor CLEARLY in chats with 2 producers at dinner. Wining and dining her SO hard. Definitely chatting about next Bachelorette status- just wait for the announcement,” the source claimed.
Fans also believed that Daisy would be the next Bachelorette for 2024 because she was the “safe” option out of all of Joey’s contestants. “If the producers want to go the traditional route; Daisy for bachelorette,” a Reddit user wrote in March 2024. Another user commented, “Daisy is a very blank canvas with a good story and has been the second most popular contestant this season in terms of social media growth.” One more user wrote, “She is a very safe pick that the producers can mold whatever storylines they want to with her.”
The Bachelor is available to stream on Hulu. Here’s how to watch it for free.
To get more of an inside scoop, check out Los Angeles Times writer Amy Kaufman’s book, Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure, for a deep dive into the Bachelor franchise. The book uncovers the secrets of Bachelor Nation, from how much the Bachelor and the Bachelorette are paid to the rules contestants have to follow, that producers don’t want fans to know. It’s a must-read for any Bachelor Nation member.
