Devin Strader Reflects On Split With Jenn Tran: “I Wasn’t Her First Choice”
Devin Strader is speaking out about his breakup with The Bachelorette season 21 finalist, Jenn Tran, and it seems Marcus Shoberg had more to do with it than fans may have thought.
In an emotional Instagram video posted on Sept. 10, Devin reflected on the end of his relationship, which came to light during The Bachelorette finale’s After the Final Rose special. “Being on the show and rewatching the episodes is something that most people, probably a lot of people, will not and can never understand,” Devin shared.
Watching Jenn’s connection with Marcus unfold on screen left Devin feeling like second best, as he explained.
“I had to clearly watch myself play second to someone else, and that’s okay,” Devin said, explaining that while he had moved on from those moments, it wasn’t easy. “I wasn’t her first choice,” he admitted. Despite the painful reality, Devin acknowledged that relationships are about growth, adding, “You know, I don’t fault her for the feelings she had towards Marcus.”
However, he revealed that he wasn’t fully aware of Jenn’s connection with Marcus during their relationship. It wasn’t until later, after their engagement and eventual split, that he realized just how deep her feelings for Marcus went.
“I was only made aware of that during the decision of me communicating less post-breakup, after a breakup almost a month later,” Devin shared. This, he said, reaffirmed his decision to end things with Jenn.
Addressing the accusations Jenn had made about him being distant after they got engaged in Hawai’i, Devin admitted he struggled to communicate post-breakup. “It was hard to go through,” he said, acknowledging that his behavior in the weeks leading up to the After the Final Rose special may have come across as cold.
“You know, I felt like I had made the right choice. So, yeah, maybe I was a little bit more calloused leading up to the last couple weeks towards [After the Final Rose], but it wasn’t intentional. It wasn’t, you know, something that I felt like I was doing out of malice,” he explained.
Devin made it clear that he wasn’t trying to play the victim in this situation, but felt it was important to share his side of the story. According to him, he was only trying to “explain my feelings and my side of the story” because “my truth, I feel, is important in this situation, too.”
Meanwhile, Marcus, the man at the center of the love triangle, also opened up about the emotional journey during his conversation with Jesse Palmer on After the Final Rose. Marcus admitted that watching his final scenes with Jenn was tough. “There were some painful truths that I stumbled upon during that time in Hawai’i,” he confessed.
Upon returning home, Marcus revealed that he struggled to understand if he had made the right decision regarding his relationship with Jenn. “It took some time to realize that we had made the right choice,” Marcus explained.
Despite the challenges, he reflected on the heartbreak of feeling like he let Jenn down.
As the dust settles, both Devin and Marcus are processing their feelings in their own ways, but one thing is clear: navigating love on reality TV comes with its own unique set of challenges.
