Hannah B. Was Chosen To Be 'The Bachelorette' For The Best Reason

The conductor of the Hot Mess Express is our next Bachelorette, so get your ticket before the train leaves the station. Not that you need a reason beyond "Hannah Beast-chelorette" to be fired up, but why not read about why Hannah Brown was picked for The Bachelorette Season 15? In some recent interviews with Variety, E! News, and The Hollywood Reporter, Rob Mills, ABC's senior VP of alternative programming, got into how they ended up choosing Hannah B. for Bachelorette. The long and short of it: people love an unfiltered goofball with a heart of gold!

Mills told The Hollywood Reporter that Hannah B., Hannah Godwin, Tayshia Adams, Caelynn Miller-Keyes, and Demi Burnett were all in the running toward becoming America's Next Top Bachelorette, noting that Hannah B. assumed she "was the dark horse." Hannah B. wasn't a finalist on Colton Underwood's season of The Bachelor. She didn't even make it to hometowns. (However, she did get to meet Colton's parents, but it turned out to be a fairly awkward afternoon that resulted in Colton sending her home.) But she growled her way into Bachelor Nation's heart, and now she is our new Bachelorette.

"We had an embarrassment of riches in terms of potential leads. We met all these girls over a one-week span maybe three or four weeks ago," Mills recalled to E! News. "We sort of knew immediately. It was like, wow, OK, it's Hannah B." He revealed producers selected Hannah B. "weeks before" the Women Tell All taping. Mills explained to E! News,

"There was just something about Hannah B. She felt very different. I think she almost came in thinking that she was a bit of an after-thought, you know, they're taking this meeting, but [was] sure we were going to go with someone who finished farther in the show. I think that she was really herself. She was much more at ease. She was refreshing and we felt like this is going to be a different kind of season with her because she's someone who is going to certainly speak her mind, own that, as she says, she's kind of a mess."

Unleash the Beast-chelorette.

"They were all great," Mills explained to THR, "but there was something about Hannah B. Part of it was that she thought she was the dark horse, so she came in and had nothing to lose, saying, 'I don't know, I'm just going to be myself.'" He continued,

"There was just something different that we hadn’t seen in a Bachelorette before. Very kind of charming and goofy. When she had her intro video for The Bachelor and she said, 'I’m Hannah — all aboard the hot mess express!’, you think that’s probably just shtick. And then we figured out, no that’s actually true."

It sounds like we're in for a wild Tide, er, ride. Mills told Variety,

"I think she’s going to be a take-no-sh*t Bachelorette, to be honest, and that’s something you really look for because you want someone who if one of the guys comes on with a girlfriend, she is going to react, sort of the way that Emily Maynard [Season 8 of The Bachelorette] did when Kalon referred to her daughter as baggage. All of our best Bachelorettes have in common that they’re really strong like that. I think that’s what is going to be entertainment. I think she’s going to go out and get what she’s worth."

Hannah B. always Hannah B-rings it. And that's good news for fans looking for a great season with a relatable Bachelorette looking for love.