If someone told me during week one of The Bachelor [1] that I'd be a Hannah Ann stan — a Hannah Stann, if you will — at the end of the season, I would've laughed in their face and said, "Sure, Jan. When pigs fly." And yet, here I am, post-finale, seriously contemplating making a fan page in honour of the former contestant [2] so I can sing her praises from the mountaintops. Why the drastic change of heart, you ask? Allow me to break things down for you.
When Peter Weber chose to give Hannah Ann his coveted first impression rose [3] during The Bachelor [4] premiere, my eyes nearly rolled out of my head. "Seriously? Another too-young-for-this-show 20-something [5] model who's probably here to gain followers and spon-con deals?" I thought to myself. Harsh, I know, but don't pretend like the same thought didn't cross your mind, too!
The next week, Hannah Ann was famously involved in #ChampagneGate [7] when she popped open Kelsey's "special" bottle of bubbly, likely prompted by the show's producers [8]. While talking to an enraged Kelsey about the situation, Hannah Ann repeatedly rattled off a calculated "I acknowledge your feelings and I respect your opinion" response straight from a How to Apologise 101 seminar, coming off robotic and rehearsed.
Image Source: ABC via Giphy [9]
Following #ChampagneGate, Hannah Ann laid relatively low, save for winning that Revolve runway show contest against Victoria F., and I happily focussed on other villains (see: Alayah [10] and Tammy [11]) as she steadily continued building a connection with Peter. She slowly but surely started shedding that "everything's unicorns and rainbows" aura as she developed stronger feelings and showed a more vulnerable, real, and emotional side.
Fast forward to the finale: Hannah Ann was the last woman left after Madi peaced out [12], and she gladly accepted Peter's proposal [13]. Just one month later, Hannah Ann reunited with her then-fiancé only to find out that he still wasn't over Madi and couldn't follow through with their engagement [14]. Yikes. It was a brutal conversation to witness, but there was a silver lining: an empowered, eloquent queen arose from the awful circumstances. Hannah Ann handled the breakup with a level of maturity and strength I wish we saw more of during the season, laying out exactly how he failed her, what he needed to apologise for, and how she's going to be fine without him, thankyouverymuch.
Both during their breakup and on the live After the Final Rose portion of the finale [16], Hannah Ann proved that she's a true class act, gaining newfound love from myself and the rest of Bachelor Nation. To fully appreciate just how well-spoken she really was through one of the most dramatic breakups in Bachelor history, we're reliving her most empowering quotes from the bonkers finale [17]. Read them below. Pin them to your inspiration board. Tat 'em on your hand. Paint them on a billboard. Or hey, do all of the above in the name of being a proud Hannah Stann.
On the Real Meaning of a Relationship
- "When I said yes to you, I said yes to a partnership and I said yes to us being teammates and us working through things together. The love I have to give will endure the absolute worst. But if you can't give me that love in return, then that's not a relationship."
- "I told you that I would stay by your side even if it killed me. It has to be 50/50."
On How Peter Robbed Her of Her First Engagement
- "All I've ever asked for is for someone to give me their whole heart like I'm giving mine to them. You took away from me my first engagement. You took that away from me, because I trusted you, and that is what you've continued to ask me to do: be patient with me, have faith in me, trust in me."
- "Why didn't you just let me go, instead of taking this away from me?"
- "Torn and conflicted Peter, all throughout I stood by your side. And you took the most precious moment that I could ever imagine away from me because you selfishly did not want me to walk away or to send me home."
On How Peter Isn't True to His Word
- "I just need someone who's gonna be true to their words and not be torn and conflicted 90 percent of the time because it's affected a lot of people."
- "Peter I'm sorry but your words, you can't be true to them, so why would I hear you out anymore? I feel betrayed enough."
- "You knew exactly what to tell me to keep me with you. And one of the more important things you told me was that letting me walk away would be one of the biggest regrets of your life. Words are powerful, Peter. Either you don't mean what you say, or you don't understand the weight of your words and how they impact people. So which one is it?"
- "You told me things that kept me with you. Even after our breakup, you reached out to my parents saying you were just processing your emotions and that you wish more than anything that we had met outside of reality TV. How does that make any sense? You signed up to be The Bachelor [18]. You told me these things that I held onto that put a fire underneath me that I could fight for us and that I could stand by your side."
On What She Wish Peter Did Before Proposing to Her
- "What would've been appropriate is that prior to our engagement you would've sat down and told me the full extent of where your heart and head was throughout that entire week. Instead you waited until the very last moment to tell me that I was the only girl left. I was placed on the spot in the middle of our proposal. I was excited in the moment, but you downplayed it . . . to where I had no idea what I was saying yes to. That's called being blindsided, Peter."
On Peter's Red Flags and How He Needs to Grow Up
- "Peter, we've been through a lot together. I really should've picked up on the first red flag that you gave to me, that you wanted to reach out to Hannah Brown to find closure with her. So really, looking back on it, our engagement involved three women: me, you still being in love with Madison and proposing to me, and you needing closure with Hannah Brown. So that's three women involved in our engagement that I was completely blindsided to. So word of advice, if you wanna be with a woman, you need to become a real man."