How Caelynn From 'Bachelor' Was Miss North Carolina — Even Though She's From Virginia

This season of The Bachelor has not one but two former pageant queens. Hannah B., also known as Alabama Hannah, took home a crown from — you guessed it — Alabama! And Caelynn is a former Miss North Carolina, which is interesting, because this beauty queen is actually from Virginia, as everyone learned during the hometown dates this week. A lot of people on social media seemed really confused about how Caelynn could be from Virginia and also crowned Miss North Carolina. But this isn't a bit of Bachelor trickery — it's actually pretty easy to compete in a pageant wherever you lay your head.

According to the Miss North Carolina website, Caelynn isn't pulling some sort of scam. In order to enter the pageant, you need to be between 17 and 24; a resident or full-time student in North Carolia, and a single person. Oh, and you can't have given birth to a kid. That's all! If you can fulfill those few things, you can compete in the Miss North Carolina pageant — Caelynn checked all those boxes, so she was allowed to enter, compete, and then win the pageant. She competed in Miss USA, too, but ended up not taking the top spot. According to the Miss North Carolina website, the pageant program is "designed to be an excellent vehicle for advancing your career and personal goals," so it's no wonder that many women try out to be a part of it. It's a great platform. This clears some stuff up, because Twitter users were actually confused about this.

Caelynn was born in Virginia and received a Bachelor's degree in journalism from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. She later moved to Asheville, North Carolina, and I guess she lived there long enough to be able to enter (and win) the pageant. It is confusing, at first, but there's a perfectly logical explanation for all of it — you can't expect everyone to stay in the same state they were born in. People move around, so those rules must be a contingency plan to allow everyone to participate.

It's this very pageant that got Caelynn in a bit of hot water at the beginning of this season of The Bachelor. Hannah B. and Caelynn knew each other from their days on the pageant circuit — they were even roommates at one point. Hannah B. claimed that Caelynn was mean and two-faced, and Hannah B. tattled to Colton about all the things she knew about Caelynn. It was pretty weak info, to be honest, but it also broke the cardinal rule of being on The Bachelor — snitches get stitches.

Hannah B. was eliminated before Caelynn, which can mean one thing — Colton was totally turned off by Hannah B.'s stirring. It's a fair feeling, because Colton is there to find love. Who wants to be distracted by petty drama from half a decade ago? Caelynn and Colton have a connection, and he is ready to explore it all.