Hannah Brown

Hannah Kelsey Brown[1] (born September 24, 1994)[2][3] is an American television personality and former beauty pageant titleholder. She starred as the lead in season 15 of The Bachelorette. Brown had previously placed in the top seven in season 23 of The Bachelor. As a beauty pageant titleholder, Brown was crowned Miss Alabama USA 2018, and competed in Miss USA 2018. Following The Bachelorette, she competed on season 28 of Dancing with the Stars with partner, Alan Bersten, and was declared the winner on November 25, 2019.[4]

Hannah Brown
Brown in 2018
Born	Hannah Kelsey Brown September 24, 1994 Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Alabama
Occupation	Television personality
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Title	Miss Alabama USA 2018
Beauty pageant titleholder
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Green
Major competition(s)	Miss USA 2018 (Unplaced)

Early life and education

Brown was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to parents Robert Walker Brown and Susanne Brown. She was raised both in Tuscaloosa and in nearby Northport, Alabama.[1][5][6][7] She graduated from Tuscaloosa County High School, and later from the University of Alabama in 2017, receiving a degree magna cum laude from the university's College of Communication and Information Sciences.[2][8] In college, she was a member of the Alpha Upsilon Chapter of the Alpha Chi Omega (AΧΩ) sorority.[9] Brown then worked as an interior designer in Northport.[8]

Career

Pageantry

Brown began her pageantry career at age 15, competing in local Alabama teen pageants.[10] As a teenager, she had placed first runner-up in Miss Alabama's Outstanding Teen 2010 and second runner-up in Miss Alabama Teen USA 2011. Brown later competed in Miss Alabama 2013, representing Tuscaloosa, however she did not place in the competition.[7][11][12][13] After a brief hiatus from pageantry, Brown returned to compete in Miss Alabama USA 2017, but did not place in the competition. She returned the following year, representing West Alabama, and was crowned Miss Alabama USA 2018.[12]

As Miss Alabama USA 2018, Brown was given the opportunity to represent Alabama at the Miss USA 2018 competition, held in Shreveport, Louisiana.[14] While at Miss USA, Brown was roommates with future The Bachelor castmate Caelynn Miller-Keyes, who had been crowned Miss North Carolina USA 2018. For the pageant, Brown adopted a platform of mental health awareness, as she had previously suffered from anxiety and depression which caused her to leave pageantry for several years.[15][7][8][10] Brown ultimately did not place in the competition and the pageant was won by Sarah Rose Summers of Nebraska. She resumed her reign after filming of The Bachelor had completed and crowned Hannah McMurphy as her successor in November 2018.[16][17]

Reality television

In 2018, Brown was cast in season 23 of The Bachelor, starring former professional football player Colton Underwood. Filming for the season took place throughout fall 2018, and Brown was later revealed by ABC to be a contestant on December 6, 2018.[18][19] Brown went on to place seventh in the competition, being eliminated by Underwood during the episode airing February 18, 2019 and filmed in Denver, Colorado.[20] During the second part of the season finale, aired on March 12, 2019, Brown was announced by host Chris Harrison as the lead for the upcoming fifteenth season of The Bachelorette. Brown is the first Bachelorette cast to not have placed in the top four of a season of The Bachelor.[21][22][23] In the season finale, Brown chose Jed Wyatt as her fiancé, although they later broke up after filming after it emerged through People that Wyatt had been in a relationship with another woman prior to and during his stint on The Bachelorette. Brown later asked runner-up Tyler Cameron out on a date during the finale, although their relationship did not progress.[24][25][26]

In August 2019, Brown was announced as one of the celebrities to compete on season 28 of Dancing with the Stars. Her appearance makes her the second woman in the show's history to participate from The Bachelorette, following Trista Sutter in the first season.[27][28] She was partnered with professional dancer Alan Bersten during her tenure on the show. In the finale, which aired on November 25, Brown and Bersten were announced as the winners.[4]

On November 10, 2019, Brown won "The Competition Contestant of 2019" at the 45th People's Choice Awards for her time as lead on The Bachelorette.[29]

Controversy

On May 16, 2020, Brown used a racial slur while singing along to the lyrics of "Rockstar," a song by rapper DaBaby, on Instagram Live. She was criticized by numerous media outlets, as well as other well-known cast members of The Bachelor, including former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay. After initially denying that she used the slur, Brown issued a written apology on Instagram the next day promising "to do better".[30] Two weeks later, she made another, much longer apology on Instagram that was well received.[31]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2018	Miss USA 2018	Herself	Miss Alabama USA; unplaced
2019	The Bachelor		Contestant; season 23; seventh place
	The Bachelorette		The Bachelorette; season 15
	Bachelor in Paradise		Guest appearance; season 6
	Dancing with the Stars		Winner; season 28[4]
2020	The Bachelor		Guest appearance; season 24

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2019	People's Choice Awards	The Competition Contestant of 2019	The Bachelorette	Won	[29]

References

1. "Tuscaloosa Belles 5/12". The Tuscaloosa News. Alabama. Archived from the original on March 24, 2019. Retrieved March 24, 2019 – via Questia. For full archived article, click "Read Preview".
2. "Hannah Brown Alabama". Miss Universe. n.d. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
3. Cohen, Jess (March 22, 2019). "How Hannah Brown's Bachelorette Journey Will Be Different From Past Seasons". E! News. Retrieved May 8, 2019. Born Sept. 24, 1994, Hannah B. is now the youngest Bachelorette star in history at the age of 24.
4. Seemayer, Zach (November 25, 2019). "'Dancing With the Stars' Crowns New Season 28 Champion -- See Who Took Home the Mirrorball Trophy!". Entertainment Tonight.
5. Flanagan, Ben (March 12, 2019). "Alabama's Hannah Brown is ABC's next 'Bachelorette'". AL.com. Retrieved May 8, 2019. Born and raised in Auburn...
6. Cacish, Allison (May 7, 2019). "Who are 'Bachelorette' Hannah Brown's Parents?". Distractify. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
7. Harney, Erin (May 8, 2018). "Miss Alabama USA, Hannah Brown, hopes to bring joy to the lives of others". Alabama News Center. The Northport native began competing in pageants when she was 15...
8. D'Aluisio, Alexandra (March 12, 2019). "Who Is Hannah Brown? 5 Things to Know About the Next Bachelorette". Us Weekly.
9. "2016-17 Annual Giving Societies for Individual Donors". Alpha Chi Omega. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
10. Demaria, Meghan (January 14, 2019). "Who Is Hannah B. From The Bachelor? Here's What to Know About Miss Alabama". Popsugar.com.
11. Jaramillo, Natalia (January 17, 2019). "Who Is Hannah Brown? 5 Things To Know About The 'Bachelor' Contestant Who Went On The First One-On-One With Colton Underwood". YourTango.com.
12. "Miss Alabama USA & Miss Alabama Teens USA State Pageant Results". Pageant Update. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
13. Taylor, Drew (January 2, 2018). "Northport native to represent Alabama in Miss USA beauty pageant". The Tuscaloosa News. Alabama. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
14. "It's official: Miss USA 2018 pageant coming to Shreveport". KTBS-TV. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
15. Falcone, Dana Rose (March 12, 2019). "Everything to Know About the New Bachelorette, Former Pageant Queen Hannah Brown". People.
16. Sison, Bree (November 18, 2018). "University of Alabama students win Miss Alabama USA, Miss Teen Alabama USA". WBRC-TV.
17. "Hannah McMurphy". Pageant Planet. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
18. Flanagan, Ben (December 6, 2016). "Meet the Alabama women competing for Colton Underwood's heart on 'The Bachelor'". Alabama: AL.com. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
19. Krolak, Mike (December 6, 2018). "The Bachelor 2019 Cast: Meet Colton's Bachelorettes". ABC. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
20. Baldwin, Kristen (February 18, 2019). "The Bachelor recap: Cassie and Caelynn in the crosshairs". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
21. Stone, Natalie (March 12, 2019). "Hannah Brown Named Bachelorette — and Bachelor Nation Has Mixed Reactions". People.
22. Melas, Chloe (March 12, 2019). "And the next 'Bachelorette' is ..." CNN.
23. Krolak, Mike (March 12, 2019). "Who Is the Next Bachelorette 2019? It's Hannah Brown!". ABC.
24. "Bachelorette Bombshell! Jed Wyatt's Ex Says They Were Dating When He Went on the Show". People. June 18, 2019.
25. "Who Is Scott's Girlfriend? 'The Bachelorette' Contestant Has Some Explaining To Do". Romper. May 13, 2019.
26. Falcone, Dana Rose (July 30, 2019). "The Bachelorette: Hannah Brown Ends Engagement with Jed Wyatt After Learning He Told 'Half-Truths'". People.
27. "'Dancing With the Stars' 2019: Hannah Brown, Karamo Brown, Lamar Odom and more to compete on new season". Good Morning America. August 21, 2019.
28. Dove, Steve (August 21, 2019). "Dancing with the Stars 2019 Cast Revealed for Season 28". ABC.
29. Colurso, Mary (2019-11-11). "Hannah Brown says 'Roll Tide!' as she wins People's Choice Award". al. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
30. Torres, Libby. "'Bachelorette' star Hannah Brown was slammed for singing the N-word during an Instagram live. Here's a breakdown of everything that happened". Insider. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
31. "Hannah Brown Has Had 'Uncomfortable' Talks With Family on Racism". Us Weekly. 2020-06-05. Retrieved 2020-08-04.

External links

• Hannah Brown on Instagram