‘The Bachelorette’ Eliminee Jess On What Actually Happened With Konrad’s Love Seat
Jess Franklin may have only been on The Bachelorette for a short time, but she won’t be soon forgotten. She came, she stole a love seat, and then she left.
On last night’s episode, Brooke welcomed four new intruders and said goodbye to four OGs: Bec, Matt, Emily, and Jess. Jess didn’t appear much in this week’s episodes, but she got a lot of attention during the premiere when she took Brooke to a love seat that Konrad had crafted with the intention to christen the chair with Brooke. The outrage was real.
Konrad was left upset, while the 30-year-old from South Australia simply stated “You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, and it was sort of just… a bit of fun.” It was a confusing reaction and the whole thing low-key felt like it was engineered by producers.
So what actually happened?
We spoke to The Bachelorette’s Jess Franklin about the love seat drama, her connection with Brook Blurton, and who she hopes will win.
On what happened with Konrad’s love seat:
“At the time, I was hyper-focused on talking to Brooke — that was the endgame, the goal of the whole night was to make sure you get that time with her. I don’t actually remember what happened, I was freezing, so I grabbed a blanket and me and Brooke started walking and honestly, I just saw the love seat and didn’t realise the conversations that had happened.
I didn’t know there was a build-up to this chair and what it meant. I just said ‘Let’s sit here’ and didn’t think anything of it. I thought it was kind of funny, sort of like a move I guess.”
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“After doing that, I then realised what kind of impact that had on Konrad. He didn’t seem too upset at the time, we laughed about it and he joked about it. So watching it back, I’m thinking ‘Now I understand the significance of this chair and what everyone’s going on about.'”
She continued, “There was nothing that went through my mind except: where’s Brooke, my feet are sore, I need to sit down. Although it looked like it was this whole massively planned out thing to do with stealing the chair, it wasn’t that in my mind,” Jess said.
“I knew it was going to be a focal point of the show, but I didn’t know to that extent. You just have to look at it and laugh. I did apologise to Konrad, we didn’t get to see that. Now half of Australia is crucifying me for something that I didn’t realise in the moment was going to be so bad.”
On whether she was asked to steal the love seat by producers:
“No comment [laughs].”
On whether she was shocked to leave last night:
“I was really surprised that it was me who went home. I thought I’d be around just a little bit longer to get more time with Brooke, but that’s not what happened.”
On her connection with Brooke:
“There was something there at the beginning — it was exciting, it was flirty and fun. But as time went on, I didn’t have that one-on-one time with her like a lot of other people did to form that connection. When I left, I knew it was because I hadn’t formed a connection with her and she hadn’t formed one with me, so it was mutual.”
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On contestants getting annoyed when people with roses want to talk to Brooke at cocktail parties:
“We always said that for people already with roses, they should give the rest of us a chance. You have more time on your hands than what we do.”
On being part of such a historic season on reality TV:
“I am so thankful to be a part of the first queer Bachelorette in history. I am looking forward to, however, seeing more diversity [in future seasons] from the lesbian and queer community. Such as different types of representation and different ways that people express themselves in their style. That would be wonderful to see on TV,” Jess told Punkee.
“Like mascs, femmes, different types of femmes, studs, even non-binary — some different representation would be great.”
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On who she wants to win Brooke’s heart:
“It quite obvious from what we’ve seen so far that people like Holly and Jamie-Lee are forming connections with her. I’m watching it unfold just like you guys,” she said.
“Whoever she really wants to be with is who I want to win, I want her to be happy. They’re a great bunch of people. I know whoever she chooses will treat her right.”
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