‘Bachelorette’ Guest Star ‘Can’t Believe’ Jenn Tran Sent Frontrunner Home Ahead of Hometowns

Heavy/ABC Stars from "The Bachelor" franchise.

“Bachelor” couple Jason and Molly Mesnick said they were surprised by Jenn Tran’s decision to send home a man she was “obsessed” with one week before the hometown dates, but only because he had been hyped up so much by producers and by Tran.

On the August 12 episode of the ABC dating show, the long-standing Bachelor Nation couple served as guest hosts during Tran’s group date in Seattle. One of the men on the group date was Sam McKinney. The 27-year-old Myrtle Beach, South Carolina contractor was a front runner on Tran’s season, receiving the first impression rose on Night One. He was also the only man she kissed during her opening night limo meet and greet.

During an August 13 appearance on the “Almost Famous” podcast, Jason and Molly Mesnick revealed they were given a heads up from producers that “The Bachelorette” was very much into McKinney. Jason Mesnick said when he asked Tran who she liked, she said McKinney’s name over and over.

Producers told the Mesnicks that Tran was “obsessed” with McKinney. “The biggest thing they homed in on is that she was obsessed with Sam. She loves him, she can’t get him out of her head,” Molly Mesnick said on the podcast.

But by the episode’s end, McKinney was sent home. On the podcast, Jason Mesnick admitted, “I can’t believe it went the way it did. I thought she was all in on this guy and he was hometown dates for sure.”

“I mean I knew that in the end, he wasn’t going to be the right fit. But I’m like, she loved this guy,” the former “Bachelor” star added. “And within 12 hours, or maybe 24 hours, he was gone. Like, what the heck happened?”

Molly noted that as she observed Tran talking to McKinney during the date,  it was like “you could almost see the light bulb go off in her head.”

Sam McKinney Blew It During the Group Date

Things went awry for Tran and McKinney during a group date set at a radio station. During a one-on-one conversation (that the other suitors watched on camera), Tran asked McKinney what his first impression of her was. He bluntly admitted that he almost didn’t come on the show when he found out Tran was “The Bachelorette.”

“When I got out of the limo, I’m like ‘Okay, this girl is not my type.’ Like this is that whole idea of like the unknown,” he said. “I thought ‘The Bachelorette’ was gonna be Daisy [Kent] or Maria [Georgas],” he added, in reference to two other women who appeared on “Bachelor” Joey Graziadei’s season.

McKinney also had trouble articulating his feelings for Tran and kept his focus on their physical connection. At one point, he even stopped talking to passionately kiss her.

Tran became frustrated by McKinney’s inability to express how he knew she was the one for him. While he insisted he was in love with Tran,  he couldn’t define what that meant. Tran sent him home before the rose ceremony because she felt something was missing from their connection.

Sam McKinney Said His Elimination Was Hard to Watch

Immediately after the episode aired on ABC, McKinney posted a video to Instagram to thank fans for their support. “My time on ‘The Bachelorette’ is over,” he told his followers. “I want to start at the top with Jenn for showing me that I was capable of loving again. After my past, that’s something that I’m extremely grateful for. ”

“I wish I was able to truly show how I felt in that moment right there,” he added. “But that love that I carry is visceral. It’s instinctive and it’s beyond description. It just didn’t work in that setting and that’s okay.”

McKinney also thanked his co-stars and said he made friendships that will last “forever.”

He captioned the post to admit it was “tough” to watch the episode. But he added, “Jenn’s fearlessness in all aspects of this process showed me that it was possible for me to open myself back up after my past. Her ability to feel and respond to all of my emotions in every situation was something that I’ve never had. It’s something that gives me hope for the future. ”

“I’m not perfect. And I don’t claim to be,” McKinney wrote. “But I do know where my heart is and the love I have inside of me. And I’m looking forward to the day I get to share that with someone.”

With McKinney out, Tran will take Devon Strader, Jeremy Simon, Jonathon Johnson, and Marcus Shoberg to the hometown dates on “The Bachelorette.”