As previously reported, Jen Tran will be making history in the near future.
Why?
Because she was named the next Bachelorette and was the first Asian-American person in history to land the role.
ABC made the announcement in late March when Jesse Palmer interviewed Tran just weeks after she was eliminated as a contestant on Joey Graziadei’s season of The Bachelor.
However, we learned that Tran wasn’t the network’s first choice.
“I was offered the role,” Maria Georgas said on the May 1 episode of Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast.
“I mean, it was mine until I said it wasn’t. And yes, it became so overwhelming that I had to decline.”
Georgas also appeared alongside Graziadei, joining his final four aspiring wives last winter.
In this revealing new interview, the reality star said the casting decision was so “set in stone” that she even started fitting.
However, sometime in March, Tran was confirmed as the lead of season 21 of The Bachelorette.
“She was one of my closest girls in the house and she always expressed how much she wanted this,” said Ontario executive assistant Georgas.
“And when everyone around me was so supportive of me in that position and everyone wanted that for me, I took a second and thought, ‘Why am I not happy?’ Why am I not excited about this?’
“And I realized it’s just not my time to be like, ‘Guys, respectfully, I have to decline.’ I need to take a step back.’”
Georgas went on to say that she knew what being the Bachelorette would entail since she saw Graziadei take almost the same job… and it just wasn’t for her.
“I wasn’t in the right mood for it,” Maria said on the podcast.
“Because I know the extensive process it was to be on the show, right?
“So if there were a few people doing the exact same thing and being there for me, I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time. To be honest, it was hard for me to get going again straight away.”
We previously heard a rumor that Maria Georgas was ABC’s first choice for the role of “Bachelorette.”
But this is the first time she has spoken about it publicly.
Georgas believes Tran will be “the most perfect bachelorette,” adding that she needs “a break” from the spotlight and concludes on the subject as follows:
“What people saw on their screens was only half of what I experienced at home.
“Was I free before it aired? Yes. But…I was so worried the whole time. And I understand, if it had been my own show, I would have had more control over things.
“But again, it’s so isolating to be in there. And I had to give up my phone – not my freedom, but I didn’t feel comfortable being alone with it.
“I wasn’t just mentally prepared for it.”