‘The Bachelorette’: Jenn Tran Eliminates Frontrunner Sam M. After ‘I Love You’

Sam McKinney is no longer in the running for Jenn Tran’s affection. On Monday’s episode of The Bachelorette, Jenn decided to send home her First Impression Rose winner after a series of bewildering conversations.

The awkwardness started during this week’s group date when Sam and other suitors joined a radio show. During a rapid-fire word association round, Sam was given the term “Fantasy Suite” and responded with “aggressive.”

Guest stars Jason and Molly Mesnick suggested that Jenn needed more one-on-one time with Sam. Jenn agreed, expressing her confusion about Sam’s answers to the cameras.

During their solo time, Jenn asked Sam about his first impression of her and how it had evolved. Instead of directly answering, he rambled on about his experience on the show. Things got worse when Sam admitted Jenn wasn’t his type and revealed he had expected the Bachelorette to be either Daisy Kent or Maria Georgas.

Sam only dug himself deeper, commenting that Jenn’s stunning looks would eventually fade but praising her for her selflessness. When Jenn asked how he knew she was selfless, Sam responded, “You’re either selfless or you’re full of s**t. One or the other.”

Sam insisted another proof of Jenn’s selflessness was their “hot” physical chemistry. Jenn, feeling “frustrated,” asked Sam how he knew her. He reiterated their physical connection, revealing his love language is physical touch, then kissed Jenn in front of everyone.

“I don’t know why he’s doing this,” Jenn said in a confessional.

During the nighttime portion of the date, Jenn questioned Sam about their earlier interaction. He continued to speak incoherently, insisting his feelings for her couldn’t be put into words.

Eventually, he told Jenn, “Because I love you.” When she questioned this statement, Sam’s frustration was evident. He explained that he was scared and they had skipped the small conversations, diving straight into “ferocious love” and “reckless love.”

In her confessional, Jenn expressed her concern. “I’m feeling frustrated and confused. Where the hell is this coming from? To not be able to back up such a bold proclamation, I don’t feel like it’s real to me,” she said. “… There’s no substance there. There’s no logic there.”

As a result, Jenn began questioning whether Sam would make it to Hometown Week, a previously certain outcome. She was still unsettled heading into the rose ceremony and decided to pull Sam aside for a chat before handing out the roses.

During their conversation, Sam apologized for the date but stood by his decision to say “I love you.” As he continued to talk about his experience and feelings, Jenn told him, “You’re saying all the right things, and it’s just hard for me to believe you.”

Sam responded, “There’s no words that I can say that can describe the love because everything that comes out of my mouth, I feel like I’m downplaying the way that I actually love.” He added, “Everything that I’m trying to say would be so f**king evident in the way that I interact with my family.”

When Jenn continued to question why he loved her specifically, he admitted, “There’s other people out there with the same characteristics as you. I’ve had those people in front of me… I feel like you’re looking at me waiting for these answers with words.”

In a confessional, Jenn said, “He’s dismissing me. He’s not listening. He’s not asking. I’m not seeing the love… I could literally be anybody right now and it wouldn’t matter.”

An “annoyed, frustrated, dismissed, ignored” Jenn told Sam about the disconnect they were experiencing. She said, “I can’t sit here with someone who says that they love me but doesn’t even really want to get to know me and understand me and see me.”

Jenn ultimately ended things for good, saying, “The way that this is reminds me so much of a relationship that I already put in the past. I’ve been through this so many times. Teaching people what love means, teaching people how to prioritize me. I’ve closed this chapter in my life already. I’m done. I’m done with it.”

In a confessional, Sam called the situation “frustrating.” “I didn’t think that today was going to be my time to go home,” he said. “The energy that she brought was very dull. It’s not my fault… I will always keep the main thing the main thing, and my main thing is finding that person that I love and the person that I want to spend the rest of my life with.”

In her on-camera interview, Jenn noted, “I don’t know exactly what love is, but I know that is not what love is. I really pride myself on reading people well and being intuitive, and I am so mad that I got it wrong… I understand my worth and what I deserve and what I want, and what I want is not Sam.”

As for what Jenn wants from a future partner, she previously told ET, “I want someone to ground me. I’ve always said, I’m a Sagittarius, I’m a fire sign, so I’m a little crazy… I bring that fiery energy and I want someone to, like, have a little bit of fiery energy, but also to ground me a little bit.”

The Bachelorette airs Mondays on ABC.

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