Hannah Brown Has More Love Stories to Tell
Jason Pham
The last time Bachelor Nation saw Hannah Brown on The Bachelorette, she was on a couch in front of a live studio audience, commiserating over her failed engagement of five weeks and the humiliation that came with watching her unsuccessful love story play out for America to see. Six years and a couple more dating mishaps later, Hannah is ready to return to the franchise that made her a household name—and she’s sharing the lessons she’s learned along the way with the next generation of Bachelor Nation.
“The world has seen me date a lot of men at one time, but there’s also a history before that of probably why I made a great candidate,” Hannah tells StyleCaster. “I don’t think anybody gets cast on that show because they’re excellent at dating.”
Bachelor in Paradise Season 10, which premieres on July 7, marks Hannah’s long-awaited return to Bachelor Nation. But instead of coming down the beach to find love herself, Hannah is joining Bachelor in Paradise as Head of Paradise Relations, a brand-new role created just for her to pass down the wisdom she’s gained from the many dating mistakes she’s made in and out of Bachelor Nation.
“Every opportunity I’ve had stems from my time on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, so I will always be thankful for the opportunity I had,” she says. “I was so fortunate to be able to have doors open for me that were outside of the franchise. But it’s always important to know where you come from, and those are the fans who have been with me from the beginning, cheering me on in life and love. If given the opportunity to be a part of Bachelor Nation again and it felt truly like where I was in this season of life, why wouldn’t I?”
I don’t think anybody gets cast on [The Bachelor] because they’re excellent at dating.
Off-screen, Hannah—who’s set to marry her fiancé, Adam Woolard, later this month—is also channeling what she’s learned in her 30 years of mistakes of life and love in her romance book series, which kicked off with her debut fiction novel, Mistakes We Never Made, in 2024. Two weeks before the premiere of Bachelor in Paradise Season 10, Hannah published the second book in the series, The Four Engagement Rings of Sybil Rain, a second-chance romance whose lead character is drawn from some of her deepest and darkest insecurities.
“When I first had the idea of these books, it centered around the idea of these four best friends. To create those four characters, I took parts of myself and exaggerated them. Sybil is a part of me, and probably one of the parts I’m more ashamed of,” Hannah says. “She knows who she is, but sometimes her choices don’t always align with who she knows herself to be, and she’s still on that journey of truly finding her worth and love for herself. She has a big fear of commitment, and that’s something that you wouldn’t really expect from a girl who was on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. But when it comes down to it, most of my relationships, I’ve tried to blow up at the end for some reason. Sybil does that too.”
Ahead, Hannah sat down with StyleCaster to tease the new season of Bachelor in Paradise, wedding planning, and the similarities between her books and her real-life experience in Bachelor Nation.
A main part of Sybil’s storyline is her journey with fertility, which is a topic you’ve also discussed recently. How much was that storyline inspired by your real life?
When I first started writing this book, it wasn’t as personal as it ended up becoming. But as I’ve been navigating this season of life and going into a new chapter, getting married and thinking about what’s next, I hadn’t put much thought into my fertility until recently. I’m not ready to have kids just yet, but it’s something I know would come at some point soon. My fiancé is a few years older than me. He would not push me at all, but he’s so ready. I have PCOS. I have two uteruses, which is very uncommon, and I haven’t had the mental capacity to step into what all that would mean, because I haven’t been at the place where I’ve wanted to have children. But it is something I’m starting to think about. Going through that right now inspired these really hard thoughts and feelings when you’re thinking about the future with a partner who really wants to have kids and you’re like, “I’m going to be optimistic, but there are some things I need to take into account.” I decided to be vulnerable about something that makes me question my future and how that relates to what Sybil was going through.
Every opportunity I’ve had stems from my time on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, so I will always be thankful.
Readers also learned more about Nikki in the second book, who was also on a reality TV dating show called LovedBy. The book revealed that she broke up with her winner from LovedBy because she learned he had a girlfriend before the show, and went on it to promote his sports career. The storyline seemed to have similarities to what happened on your season of The Bachelorette. How much of that was intentional?
Being on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette is such a unique experience that only people who have been a lead on that show can really understand. But from season to season, I also truly don’t know what it was like for the girl before or after me. So I went off of my own experience. People will definitely see similarities in what Nikki has to go through in her own heartbreak, similar to the one during that time of my life.
In the book, Nikki is also considering going on LovedBy again despite how her season ended. After your season of The Bachelorette, there were rumors that you were offered to be the Bachelorette again. How much of that storyline was true to what you experienced?
There was so much going on during that time, and so many different possibilities of where my life could have gone, and I think the way that everything turned out was exactly how it was supposed to.
You’re joining Bachelor in Paradise as the new Head of Paradise Relations. How is your role different than Wells Adams?
First of all, he’s a bartender. I can’t make a drink. I’m not really doing much, except for popping the top of a champagne when it comes to anything with an alcoholic beverage. The difference between me and Wells just comes down to our similar but different experiences. I have a female perspective that I feel was missing from the show, and I’m able to speak to the women who are there, because I’ve walked in their shoes. I have so much advice on what to do and what not to do from my experience.
When it comes down to it, most of my relationships, I’ve tried to blow up at the end for some reason.
A lot of people from Bachelor Nation have talked about wanting to distance themselves from the show and establish their own identity apart from the franchise. Was that something you ever felt, and how did that affect your decision to join Bachelor in Paradise?
Every opportunity I’ve had stems from my time on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, so I will always be thankful for the opportunity I had. I was so fortunate to be able to have doors open for me that were outside of the franchise. But it’s always important to know where you come from, and those are the fans who have been with me from the beginning, cheering me on in life and love. If given the opportunity to be a part of Bachelor Nation again and it felt truly like where I was in this season of life, why wouldn’t I? For the past six years, I’ve been working on creating my own brand, with and without the show, so it feels like a bonus to be a part of it. I didn’t feel pressured to do it. If it didn’t align, I wouldn’t do it. I don’t have to do it, but it’s a show and a franchise that’s been around for such a long time, and there’s a reason for that.
Who from the new Bachelor in Paradise cast should fans keep their eyes on?
People are very intrigued Dale Moss is on the season. I was honestly shocked myself to see him. I’m excited for people to see more of his personality and for him to have the opportunity to find love. Kat [Izzo] is back after getting engaged last season. I’m proud of her for putting herself back out there after it not going the way she intended it to. I didn’t know anyone going into it. Nobody was from my seasons, so it was fun for me to get to know these people for the first time.
Were you prepared to see anyone from your seasons or did you know beforehand that there wouldn’t be anyone from your Bachelor Nation past?
I’m in a spot where I feel respected. The fact that I’m an engaged woman, and this opportunity had to align with where I’m at in my life right now, I was not in it to have my own drama. I felt really seen when it came to the production. I felt very confident this opportunity was not going to be about any of my past love stories, but about giving wisdom and encouragement from the experiences I’ve had and leaving that in the past and being able to learn and grow from that.
Jesse Palmer got a lot of criticism for saying that he wanted a younger contestant and a Golden contestant to get together. Where do you stand on that?
In Paradise, anything can happen. It’s not like I wanted to see it, but I think what people are going to see from this show is you don’t have to push drama. You don’t have to push a young man or woman to get with an older man or woman. Whatever happens naturally will happen. The golden bachelor and bachelorettes being a part of the show is so fun. I know people have been like, “How is this gonna work?” They bring this amazing energy and have the wisdom and maturity, but also the thrill of life that is so refreshing to watch. It’s really inspiring for the young men and women on the beach.
You’re getting married this month. How has wedding planning been?
It has been a very packed summer for me, filming in Costa Rica for Bachelor in Paradise and having a book come out a month before my wedding and just being a typical bride in the midst of the hardest part of wedding planning, which is right at the end. I realized I’m a type A person, stuck in a type B body. I want to make everything the way I want it, but because this season has been so overwhelming, I’ve had to let some things go. I will not lie and say this has been my favorite season of my life ever. Some people love wedding planning and being engaged. I don’t think planning a wedding is that much fun, but what I do think is important and what I’m proud of Adam and I for doing is, instead of just planning a wedding, we’re preparing for a marriage. That is what at the end of the day, you’re doing. You’re committing to growing with a person and taking the hard days with the good days. This season has had a lot of harder days, but I’m so thankful to be with a partner who’s rooting me on and is my safe place. We’ve had a few breakdowns when it comes to the planning of the wedding, but I know I’m not alone.
Anything you can say about the dress?
It is beautiful. It’s important if you want to take up space on your wedding, you take up space because a lot of times women feel like they have to be small. But I’m definitely taking up space on my day.
I’m assuming the wedding is not going to be on TV. Is that something you were offered or considered?
Not for me. It would be great if they paid for it, so maybe I would think about it. But no, it’s going to be a more intimate wedding. It’s under 100 people. It’s considered a micro wedding. It’s sweet and intimate, and that’s much needed. I think I deserve that at this point.
Bachelor in Paradise airs on Monday nights at 8 p.m. on ABC.
CREDITS:
Photographer: George Chinsee
Art Director: Stephanie Cui
Makeup: Taylor Fitzgerald
Hairstylist: Mitchell Ramazon
Graphic Designer: Sarah Ceniceros
