Bachelorette’s Devin Strader Claims He Was Jenn Tran’s 2nd Choice

Devin Strader isn’t a fan of the narrative surrounding how he broke up with The Bachelorette’s Jenn Tran, so he’s breaking down his side of the split — and sharing his thoughts about his ex-fiancée on social media.

“This is my truth,” Devin, 28, began his Instagram video statement on Tuesday, September 10, claiming that he wanted to “give a little bit more context” to his and Jenn’s broken engagement.

Devin and Jenn, 26, proposed to each other during season 21 of The Bachelorette, but he later called off the romance with a phone call. Devin is now claiming that he was never The One for Jenn — which he allegedly learned while watching the show back.

“I had to clearly watch myself place second to someone else,” he told his social media followers in a 13-minute video, hinting that Jenn was more in love with runner-up Marcus Shoberg. “I wasn’t her first choice,” Devin alleged.

Devin claimed that it’s “OK” that Jenn had stronger feelings toward Marcus, 32, prior to their breakup, noting, “We’ve moved on from that.” He insisted, “I don’t fault her for the feelings she had toward Marcus.”

However, Devin did claim that he “wasn’t informed” of Jenn’s feelings for Marcus “during our relationship.” He alleged, “I was only made aware of that during the decision to [break up].”

Devin revealed it was “hard to go through” all those emotions, noting that, “At that point in time, I felt like my feelings were reaffirmed in breaking up with her in the first place” after watching Jenn and Marcus’ love story on screen.

During the show, Jenn told Marcus that she loved him during fantasy suites, but he was hesitant to say it back. “I don’t know if you see me in your future,” Jenn told Marcus ahead of their final date to which he replied, “I think I regret not diving deeper on what the future looks like.”

Marcus’ response confused Jenn, who confessed, “I’ve been investing so much into you Marcus. … It hurts me because I don’t know what to do with it now. Where am I supposed to go from here?”

Before the date ended, Marcus finally said the L-word, claiming he didn’t want to “give up on us.” Jenn, however, decided to walk away from Marcus and focus her attention on Devin.

While Jenn and Devin did end up getting engaged at the end of the season, she revealed during the After the Final Rose special that he pulled the plug on the relationship. Jenn told the audience that Devin ended things with a “two-minute phone call” that left her “blindsided.”

Devin, however, claimed on Tuesday that he tried to break up in person, but “she kinda forced my hand” when she allegedly insisted they talk right then.

He proceeded to show text exchanges with Jenn from after the show leading up to ATR in which she stated that they were “on good terms” despite the broken engagement.

“I’m not sitting here trying to put blame on one person. It is incredibly difficult to navigate those feelings post show,” Devin said in the video, claiming “every single day was an uphill battle” between him and Jenn. “No matter what I was doing, no matter how hard I was trying, it wasn’t good enough,” he alleged.

Even with the backlash he’s faced from Bachelor Nation, Devin is confident in his decision. “As much as I care for Jenn, as much as I love Jenn, I really did feel like there was no other choice,” he explained, adding that a relationship is “two people” and he made the best choice for himself and his happiness.

“To Jenn, I really am sorry. My intentions never were to hurt you,” Devin concluded.