Jenn Tran's ex-boyfriend crashed her season of 'The Bachelorette.'
Jenn Tran's journey for love has just been dealt a major curveball. On the July 29 episode of The Bachelorette, Matt Rossi, the leading lady's ex-boyfriend, traveled to New Zealand on his own dime to vie for Jenn's heart once more.
After a quick vetting by franchise host Jesse Palmer, show producers led Matt to Jenn to have a conversation.
"I feel both a little bit nervous, a little bit excited. We were in love and I think a part of us will always be in love. For me, it's just never been so strong," he told the cameras. "Me being here is hopefully one step in the right direction proving to her how much she means to me and how serious I'm taking this."
Matt began the conversation by revealing that he blew off two weddings he was supposed to attend with Jenn because "it wasn't the same" without her by his side.
"I couldn't go to the weddings without you," he said. "I'm not ready to let you go and get engaged without telling you that I still have really strong feelings for you, now more than ever."
When Jenn pressed Matt on if he was ready to get engaged, he was quick to respond, "I'm ready to do it."
Jenn was left "confused" by the romantic gesture and wondered why Matt didn't declare his feelings before she left for the show.
"I did say it. I didn't say it as grandly as this, I guess," he said. "... I really do love you... My intentions are to be with you. I want to continue this journey together... I would love to join you for me to prove to you how much you mean to me, to express to you how much I still strongly care for you."
With that, Jenn walked away to consider the situation and what it would mean for her other suitors if she let Matt stay.
"It confuses me and it breaks me out of my head a little bit. There are people here that I have really strong feelings for and I am afraid of what it might stir up in some of these guys and how some of them might feel about it," she said in a confessional. "But I also know Matt a lot better than these guys I just met a couple of weeks ago. He's someone I care about. I have a difficult decision to make and I don't know where my heart is pulling me."
In a preview for next week's episode, Jenn's men are less than pleased by Matt's arrival, with one saying he's "livid" and another complaining that it's "not fair."
Jenn, meanwhile, appears to be more uncertain than ever as she tells the cameras, "As much as I can see a future at the end of this, I also see a future where I end up alone."
So who is Matt Rossi? Read on for everything you need to know about the 27-year-old insurance executive.
He previously spoke out about his relationship with Jenn
In a February TikTok, Matt had his dog, Kirkland, narrate the story of his relationship with Jenn.
"When I was still a twinkle in my dad's eye, he was a 24-year-old f**k boy living in Boston with his three best friends," Kirkland's voice ver said. "... He was painfully single, not too different than how he is right now, so he decided to go on this app called Hinge, which he had never done before because he was scared of Craigslist killers."
"So he found this really cute, sweet girl named Jenn. Totally out of his league. Somehow she gave him a chance, they hit it off, and they started dating," he continued. "Things started to heat up, they got pretty serious, and Jenn was ready to settle down with her person, but my dad just wasn't there yet. He was still, as I said, a f**k boy. Years passed, they stayed friends, and now my dad's using her for clout."
He is not Jenn's toxic ex
Throughout Jenn's season of The Bachelorette, viewers have heard about Jenn's past toxic relationship that made her feel unworthy. Upon Matt's arrival, Jenn was quick to confirm that he is not the ex to which she was referring.
Rather, Jenn and Matt dated three years ago for several months. They later reconnected as friends. When Jenn left for The Bachelorette, Matt told Jesse, "I couldn't just let her go."
He has a big social media following
Matt boasts more than 50,000 followers on both Instagram and TikTok, thanks in large part to his wiener dog. During an appearance on the Nickle Up podcast in February, he opened up about his journey as a content creator.
"I am a guy that lives in Boston that has a wiener dog," he said. "My content is about lifestyle and entertainment. It's there to give you a look at lifestyle, but have a laugh along the way. That's something that took me probably nine months to figure out and start executing."
He is more than an insurance executive
During the podcast appearance, Matt revealed that, though he's in corporate America, he has an entrepreneurial mindset. He credits that to his parents, both of whom moved to America from Italy and neither of whom was college educated.
"They both started their own companies. My mom is a hairdresser, has a hair salon in Newton that she's run for 30 plus years. My dad was helping to support my grandparents, who opened an Italian restaurant up in Hampshire, and then was simultaneously building out a real estate career," he said. "I've always had this entrepreneurial passion... [But] I got the college education. I went to business school. I joined corporate America. I think I've learned a lot, but I don't think that entrepreneurial spirit has gone away."
He will change Jenn's whole journey
When ET spoke to Jenn earlier this month, she teased how Matt's surprise arrival impacted her experience on the show.
"It's a very pivotal moment in the journey," Jenn said. "I think that's all I'll really say to that. It was a big moment for me that shocked me and changes the trajectory of the rest of the season."
As for the super tease moment in which Jesse tells Jenn that "no Bachelorette has ever done this before" ahead of her finale, she promised her season will end in an unexpected way.
"The way the journey just played out, there's so many moments in which I learned so much about myself and have this huge character development for myself essentially," she said. "By the end of it, it's definitely an outcome that's going to be a shock to my family, it's going to be a shock to the viewers. I'm excited to watch it play out."
While Jenn would neither confirm nor deny if she's engaged, she told ET that she's "very happy with the outcome" of her season.
"I learned so much about myself. It's really, truly been such a journey of self-growth. I would say I found a ferocious love within myself for sure," she said, before noting of Bachelor Nation, "I'm really excited for them to watch me grow into a different person. I have a few bada** moments, a few moments of truly just putting myself out there. I think a lot of young women are gonna relate to me and relate to my story. That's what I'm most excited about."
The Bachelorette airs Mondays on ABC.
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