Bachelor Happy Hour - Hannah Brown Part 1: A Book for Bachelor Nation and ‘Paradise’ Hot Takes
Episode Date: June 25, 2026Today on “Happy Hour,” we’re joined by Bachelor Nation icon Hannah Brown! Hannah is here to tell us all about her brand-new book, her thoughts on reality TV, and so much more. We kic...k things off with her new book, written for Bachelor Nation. She reveals her process when writing about her lore and how that is seen through this book. Then, we chat about her brother’s wedding and reminisce on her time as a lead. Plus, we get into her thoughts on “Paradise,” including what updates she’d like to see for the show. Tune in now and stay tuned for part two dropping tomorrow!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Bachelor Happy Hour.
I'm Rachel.
And I'm Charity, and today we have our very own Bachelor Nation royalty joining us.
Everyone welcome Hannah Brown.
Hi.
Thanks for having me.
Hannah, so happy to have you.
We are so excited.
We have been wanting you to come on the podcast forever.
Well, I'm glad that you're crushing it.
And so glad to be here.
Oh, my goodness.
Well, speaking of crushing it, you have been crushing it.
And I feel like you have something coming out every single year, it seems like.
And when I say something, a book.
So let's dive into this.
that because you're like an author, like an official one at that. I'm a full-fledged author. Yes.
This is my third romance novel the past three summers. I've had a book come out, which is truly
a dream come true. I'm sure y'all can understand this. Like, we've all been so blessed with
these amazing opportunities and even like just being on the bachelor, bachelorette. It's like not
something you really dream of. But I do, I say this a lot, but,
truly like writing these books. It's been my first like true dream come true because I could
fathom that and like hope that I would be able to do it. But I do credit, you know,
whatever people saw in me during my bachelor days to where I am now to be able to do what I'm
doing now. So even though it can be crazy sometimes and it's been a whirlwind and I've been busy,
I'm so thankful to be living in my dreams right now. And yeah, been cool. I, I,
I am so excited for you.
And for those listening, your newest book, Reasons to Be Loved by You, comes out on June 23rd.
What can fans expect from your newest book?
Okay, I feel like this book is for Bachelor Nation to kind of come into this new season of life that I'm in.
Like I said, I've written two prior books.
but this third book is based off of some of my own personal experiences that I've had.
And I'm sure you guys can relate to Nikki, the main character of my book.
She was a former pageant girl from the South turned into a reality TV star.
She went on a dating show that ended not the way that she expected in public heartbreak.
And so wants to return back to her roots.
She needs to get her life together after just fame and heartbreak to go back home to realize that her brother is also coming back for the summer, but now engage to the other woman in the very public heartbreak.
So it's very messy.
It's very fun.
But there's a very sweet happily ever after at the end.
But a lot of that is based off of.
Yeah.
personal experiences. But I think you are really going to like this book if you're into any of the
war that is my life. You'll, you'll definitely see where the inspiration came from.
No, 1,000 percent. I'm like, I am on the edge of my scene. I'm like, I need to dive into this
because I want to know the ins and out. But I'm very curious of like, obviously with you writing
and like coming up with this like story, it's a, you know, very much connected to your personal
life. How was it like explaining that to your like, I guess your family members?
Yeah. They've been very supportive. And I think it really is all about timing in where we're at in our relationship and just the growth and the redemption that our family has had. We truly are living in a happily ever after with my family. And so being able to navigate and explore kind of going into these personal experiences that we all went through and making a romantic comment. And so being able to navigate and explore kind of going into these personal experiences that we all went through and making a romantic comment.
out of it. I think it's like I have so much hindsight now and I feel like I could write it from a
really fun place. Like I there's no villain. There's no like true victim in any of this. It's a fun
story. I feel like my life story is like stranger than fiction. So why not like right might like be
able to process it. Not even process it, but like make a fun story out of some of the
experiences that I've had and that's what I did. And so I think they were supportive. I think they were
a little like shaking in their boots before they read it. They're like, what did you? How much of this
is going to be realized and how much is fiction. And this story is its own story. It is.
But, you know, it's for me to know and for you guys to guess how much of it, you know, the interactions
were based off of things that, you know, me and my family navigated during the time.
So it was fun to be able to do that.
And they've read the book.
They think it's great.
It was funny.
My sister-in-law was like, okay, read the book.
And, you know, it was, there was moments with the cards.
I'm like, oh, I can totally remember like what it was like being in the car with you for the first time, the tension, the whatever.
But like I said, this book is really about a sweet, happy ever after for the romantic relationships in the story.
And also for the family.
So they get to be different if I would have written it, you know, in like 2021, 2021,
when I had different feelings about the whole situation.
But there's none of that in this book.
Like there's definitely jabs and like it is a dramatic, you know, like what the heck?
How did all these relationships come to be?
So there's definitely that.
But it's a fun book.
It's a romance that people are going to enjoy.
Amazing.
I'm like, I have always looked at your story as The Bachelorette and I've looked up to you and how you've handled it because I feel like it was kind of similar to mine ending wise.
But you had a crazy twist at the end of your season and people have always kind of speculated on it.
So you said there are bits in there that might be true, might be fiction.
Is there anything you're nervous for people to read and like draw their own opinion from?
You know, not really.
Like I think I am like, this is my creative outlet.
I was able to use my own personal experience.
I like feel very proud and confident in what I'm putting out there in the season of life that I'm in now.
I think for a while it's kind of my way of discussing where kind of what happened back then.
Because I really didn't talk about it much because it was Tinder time.
I felt like my season was one that.
never ended. I was like, I am living in like a drama and like how do, you know, how do we
navigate all this? But we did. And my brother is, I'd be so funny at their wedding. I haven't
really talked about this much. But it was still like, oh my gosh, is this is this happening?
And I knew I felt the need to do speech and say my own, my work.
of and the first thing I do is I get up there and I'm just like well first I just want to say to
everyone you're welcome for everyone being here and gathering today I'm screaming and everybody's
like oh gosh where is this going where is this going where is this going and then I was like I mean
you know I went on a journey to find my own love story and it didn't end the way I expected it
too but you know Haley and Patrick found their own I just I just said it and
like honestly from that there and like being at the wedding day it was like we're here like this is
real you love and from that moment on like our family has been a family that supported each other
and it's um yeah like i have a niece now who's like my favorite person on the planet and like
oh so supportive of like the crazy journey that um our family's been on but it's
it's fun for to go back and, um,
kind of write about from Nikki's perspective what it was like to at the beginning of,
you know, not only the family's dynamics,
but also what it's like to live life after being thrusted into fame and like,
who am I? And wow, like life isn't what I expected it to be.
And, um, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and,
story too in a creative way.
Yeah, I feel like it's just like the perfect timing because I'm so like kind of detached to it and like feel confident about sharing this story in the way that I'm doing because it's from like a detached like place where not this strong emotions about the character that is so similar to me.
Yeah.
Like you mentioned, obviously, like, a lot of the inspiration comes from, like, personal experiences.
But, like, this one in particular, did you feel like you always knew you wanted to write about this?
Or, like, did you just, like, kind of let it just come?
Like, how does that, like, where does that come from?
So, you know, I had the idea for these books a while ago.
All of the books that I've written so far are all interconnected.
it's not a series like you don't have to start with mistakes we never made my first romance before
picking up with love by you if you're like man i'm more you know invested in this book i want to start
here it's not going to mess up anything for you to go back to the other two books okay but from the
very beginning i had this idea it really started out with the about this best for group and the
core four and their own unique romantic relationships about how to
how they love each other and intertwined in each other's relationships.
And so I knew that one of the characters was going to be very similar to me.
Like on the paper, you're like, oh, that's based off Hannah.
Like I kind of knew that there would be this like reality TV star girl.
And I think a lot of people maybe thought, oh, why didn't you start with that book?
But for me, I wrote a, I call it my quarter life memoir.
And if I feel like if I would have started with that, it kind of would have just not, like you kind of said, like I'm a full-fledged author now.
Like I feel like I needed to submit myself of like, no, I have like my own like creativity and these stories.
And like every one of the characters has a part of me to it.
And so I really wanted to prove myself with Emma's story and civil story and have this.
like Hannahverse I guess is what we're calling it.
People are really invested in and not just like always having to like sell parts of my own story.
But that's why I'm like so glad that I did this now because it doesn't feel like that.
I feel like I had this great like, you know, season of my life that I could draw inspiration from.
But I feel like I've grown so much as a writer and like how I want this series to be.
that I'm so glad that I waited, but that it was always an idea that I had to have this book
and this type of character.
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Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life?
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This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever
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I love that you waited to come out with this one, like you said,
because so many people are going to be interested just because I think the lore
and there was always so much mystery around it.
And I love that you're writing it from a place of healing
and you guys have had your happily ever after.
But what was that like writing the book?
Did you have anything else come up for you?
Was it healing to really get it all out?
It really was fun.
It truly was fun because I think
I was writing this book while my sister-in-law was pregnant
with my niece.
Like it was,
it's just like different.
Um,
of when I was writing it.
So like nothing really came up.
I wouldn't say honestly,
more came up with my second,
um,
novel,
The Four Engagement Reigns of Civil Rain.
Because that was based off of a girl who,
you know,
had some fertility things.
And also,
um,
had a lot of fears about,
was there something wrong?
with her like why did relationships seem to not work out what was she always running from like that one was
a little bit harder for me to write because i think that's still things that i'm like working through
and learned like working through in therapy and um was healing from and going into my own wedding week like
there was like some more like tenderness around that where this book writing it i was just in
such a healed place and like i'm so thankful for where my
family is now, which is shocking. I don't think I would, I could have even said that had I
written this book a few years prior. So, you know, it all works out. It really does.
You're amazing, Hannah, like, truly, I'm like, taking notes. I'm like, this is just so inspiring.
But is there anything that you can tease maybe for what's to come after this book? Do you have
thoughts of, like, where you want to, like, take your next book into a certain direction? Yeah.
Yeah, so like I said, the books originally started out with this best friend group, and there's the core four, so there's four of them.
So I am excited.
I'm already actively working on Willow's story to round out the Paniverse.
And I feel like with every book I've written, I've like pushed myself a little bit more.
And this one, it's, I think it's going to be really.
really great, but it is pushing myself and challenging myself a little bit more. And I'm like,
but I will say like, it's the setting is going to be so magical. Like I'm really trying to
dive into that, continuing to like just work on my craft a little bit more and challenge
myself with different stories. And I feel like this is going to be a very emotional, like,
pull at the heartstrings book that I'm working on. So, and I feel like reasons we love by you is too.
I said, there's the cutest love story with Nikki and Nate. And then obviously we know all the drama
with the family. But even like with Nikki and her mom, like there's like a lot of heart to this
family dynamic. And I'm really leaning into that even more with Willow's story.
Beautiful. That's so exciting that we have the fourth book coming. I have to know what is your
creative process? Like how do these ideas come to you?
So from the beginning, I had like a few ideas for the books.
And they've mostly, you know, taking shape the way I thought.
But as it goes, sometimes you realize, oh, shit, this isn't working.
Like, this is not working the way I expect it to be.
So you have to pivot.
And I feel like, especially for poor engagement reasons, Civil Rain, like writing my second book
was so tough. This reason to be loved by you came a lot easier, I think, because, like, so
connected to this story, but writing from a, writing from a healed place and it was fun. But I think
it just, like, I start out, like, a lot of people have different processes. But, like, I do,
I am a plotter. Like, I have kind of the ideas and know, like, where I want the story to go.
some people just like start writing and just see where the characters take them no I'm too
ADHD for that I need a little bit of a plan but then like I said sometimes things are not working or
it's not it's not as like you try to do I think the issue is mostly you try to do too much in a book
and there's not enough space and there's you have to really figure out how to get people more
invested in these characters and love them without doing too much but it's all like
a timing issue sometimes or that's what I've at least experience. And so then things morph and
change. So for me, it's having some structure, but then being able to be a little bit malleable
with where things go. And I think a lot of the reason I've been able to do that is because I have a
great team. And I'm always like open. I have a co-author Emily Larby that has been writing
romance for years and years and years and years and is an integral in part for.
for honestly getting it to where I've been able to get out three books and three years.
Because just crazy, Hannah.
Literally crazy.
It is a lot.
But it's the team that I have behind me, the encouragement, the, you know, when I'm having moments of feeling stagnant and stuck, having other people to kind of pick up the pieces and and keep, you know, the train on the track.
so very thankful for that.
And I feel like the reason the books people connect to them and love them so much is because
of Emily and everybody that I have just working behind the scenes to get these books out
to people.
Yeah.
No, that's amazing.
And like, obviously, rounding out the series with your fourth one at some point coming
along the way, do you feel like there's pressure, like, once you finish that to, like,
keep going or to maintain, like, oh, I've basically.
basically come out with a book every year now. Like I kind of have to keep that momentum or do you feel
like no, like that's not what is true to me? I think it's about like, yes, there's moments that I feel
pressure of like, oh gosh, like I said, I kind of had these ideas and I've, I've just been able to
kind of just go along year by year and it's like, oh gosh. How much more can I give? But I'm also not like,
wherever life takes me, whenever opportunities come up. And if I have a great story that needs to be
shared, I will do that. But I've really just been focused on like completing the story. And it's so cheesy,
but like this chapter of the core four. And like, I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to do that.
This was originally a two book deal. And then I got another two book deal. And so that's just such a
blessing and whatever happens after like we'll see. I mean, my I always am very passionate about
like speaking out what you want to happen. And like my would be for these books to be picked up
and adapted in some way. And like so that's like I'm not ever going to be like done with the
core. I would love to see continue seeing their story brought to people in different ways. And
And yeah, I mean, there's definitely a few little things that's scratched down on a piece of paper of different ideas.
So we shall see.
I'd like to like maybe take a little break.
I mean, you deserve one.
I know.
I sense it.
And she's like, maybe I'll take a rest after four years of hard work.
Would you, with you wanting them adapted, would that be like into maybe like a TV series or a movie?
Would you ever be open to that?
I'd be open to either one.
So that would be incredible.
Do you have any like actors or actors?
I was going to ask.
Do you play any of the characters?
You know, I've, I have, I typically like kind of have that on lock.
But for this book, maybe because it is so, like, I see some of my family members sometimes.
It's hard for me to pick somebody to, like, play Nikki, if that would sense.
And then I also realized, to be honest, whatever I say, like if somebody adapts it, it probably
won't be who I wanted to be.
So it's been harder for me to like come up with like who I could see playing these roles.
So get back to me on that because I just keep going back and forth and I don't, I really don't
want to say.
Because then it's like, oh, you think that that's who I don't know.
It's just a whole.
We're seeing articles everywhere, Hannah Brown once.
And so to play her.
No, literally.
It's Nikki, not Hannah.
I love it.
And congratulations again.
Like you said, getting that two-book deal and now rounding out a fourth that is literally
an accomplishment, I can't even fathom.
So congratulations.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
So happy for you, Hannah.
I'm Cynthia Lois.
And I'm Josie Dye.
And we're done pretending we have it all figured out.
Each week, we laugh, cry, and talk our way through life's messiest moments.
Things you think about but would never say out loud.
The questions you are always too shy to ask.
Relationships, regrets, awkward moments, and the stuff no one warns you about.
It's honest, it's funny, and sometimes it gets a little uncomfortable.
But that's kind of the point.
This is Cynthia and Josie's Unmentionables.
Listen on the free IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby.
Together, we're going to have meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating.
people, like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges.
I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer, and that was more
difficult. There's a lot of people who understand postpartner depression. I was not prepared
for postpartum anxiety. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the Iheart Radio app, Apple
podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Mainstream media is full of cruel depictions
of the unhoused. Stories that shame and blame and paint you.
unhoused as a monolith.
We The In-House is the podcast that's changing that.
I'm Theo Henderson, creator, and host.
And for years, I've created a space where the un-housed and their advocates can tell
their own stories.
In the last few months alone, I've interviewed unhoused parents, immigrants, mutual aid
organizers, veterans, the LGBTQTIA plus community, and the policymakers who make the laws
that impact the unhoused existence.
Weyenhous is a two-time webby and signal award-winning show with many exciting guests on the horizon.
Tune in this week for my interview with Dr. Gio Witcher,
a street doctor turned influencer whose work with the unhoused community has made a huge impact online and in her community.
Listen to Weythian House on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Keith Giamonka seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad, but secretly,
He became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree.
At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea?
It seemed very crazy.
But I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out.
Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like?
No, I didn't want to manifest that.
I was trying to manifest success.
Every family has its secrets.
But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life?
That is not the look of an innocent man.
This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever
because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue.
Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
June is Black Music Month, and on the Drink Chams podcast,
we're speaking with the hottest names in the culture, like Sway Lee.
Do you realize how legendary you are?
I appreciate that.
I'd be seeing it, but I'm like, man, I still got, like, so much more to do.
Like, Prince, he dropped, like, 30 albums.
We dropped, like, five right now.
Like, that's the rate we gotta be going.
Yeah, that's a good attitude.
You also hear stories from industry legends and hip-hop pioneers like Fab Five Freddy.
I directed when the Nazis' early videos.
Which one?
One love.
Wow.
I literally filmed in his apartment in Queensbridge.
His moms were still up in that apartment.
Nans was just beginning to take off.
His pops used to live near me in Harlem.
His dad introduced him to a whole lot of, you know, conscious stuff,
and he made a young prodigy.
No matter the era, Drink Chams brings you the biggest names
and the most unfiltered conversations.
Listen to Drink Chams from the Black Effect Podcast Network
on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcast.
Okay, we're going to pivot a little bit into kind of talking about something you did last summer,
or was it last summer, maybe the summer before last, it feels like we've been on, I don't know
what universe we're in in Bachelor Nation, so forgive me, but Paradise.
Obviously, you were down in Paradise, but this time you were literally a host, essentially.
So how was that experience?
How was it different seeing obviously the format was completely different, new team, everything?
Yeah.
was a little shot, like so honored and, like, shocked when they asked me to come back,
um, to be a part of, you know, the place I got my start. And, um, it was, it was like two months
before my wedding. So I remember being like, who, I'm going to be in Costa Rica for a full month.
I was so shocked when I was like, oh my gosh. And then the next month was like, my book was coming out.
And then two weeks later, after my book came out, was my wedding.
So I was like, okay.
Oh, my goodness.
Literally booked and busy.
It's going to be a lot.
Definition.
Yeah.
It's going to be a lot.
But I cannot pass up the opportunity because, like I said, I think a lot of times when
you've gone through fame or been in Bachelor Nation, there's a lot of emotions after.
No matter how much success, whether, like, personally or in your relationship, you're
in your relationship you have.
It's such a emotional experience, good and bad.
You know, like there's, you run the gamut of all the feelings.
And I really have gotten to a place, I would say, in the past two years, where I am so
grateful for my, for everything that I went through.
And some, you know, these producers like seeing something in me.
And honestly, asking me for the first.
first time, like how I felt and like just seeing a different side of me that I was so scared to
like show to the world. And so to be able to come back and be a part of maybe helping other people
have that experience, just a whole circle. And I could in, and being in the place that I am now
of just like so much gratitude being able to come back was such a gift. And it was so different,
like full different format, different people running the show. So it did like feel like the
first day of school. Like it's like I kind of works. I don't know a lot of these people here.
Like I have like a few that had like been in it with me. But it was really new.
Where I think I would have probably gone right back in to like feeling like I could be fully
myself. But it took me a minute. Also like you said, had a lot going on, booked and busy.
But really I was just trying to find my footing last summer. And even like where do I come in?
I don't know. I think also the they were trying to figure out how they wanted me in,
but I was still just grateful that they thought of me. And, yeah, I got that experience.
I have to say because I watched you. And I was so excited to see you there because you bring so much to
the show. And I think that's because you do have so much heart in it, whether you're there as a
contestant or the lead. But I have friends that were there. And they were like, we had
all these fun things with Hannah that no one ever saw.
I know.
What was that like having all these experiences?
And then they pretty much like all got cut.
I feel like.
I'm so pissed.
Wait.
I want to know.
I'm like about the there.
I mean,
you all know from being the Bachelorette.
Like you,
there's so much.
But like you're the lead.
So like you are used to everything being about you.
Like literally this show is about me.
And then going back and just being like,
oh, I'm kind of like this new role.
So I definitely felt that sometimes.
And then would be able to like do something and then be like, oh, that's never going to
see the light of day.
I feel like I felt because there was just so much going on with the like new format of
their like this prize at the end and all these challenges.
Like there was just so much going on.
And then to add in like a new aspect with me, I think it was, I think it last summer.
it was just trying to figure out like how are we going to keep Bachelor in Paradise like what
people love but also grow and there was just a lot being thrown at one time and so yeah I think
there was just parts that I didn't make the cut and that's okay I would like to see them I know
I'm like I had no idea extended release would you say there's anything that on the contestant side that
you would change in like the format of how things ran from start to finish that you were like,
maybe this could have been different or this probably would enhance their experience or
relationships?
I will.
I mean, I just am annoyed at contestants now.
I think it's really the people who come on.
And like everyone's lovely.
I'm not saying that.
But I think now with like social media, this is like, this is my soapbox for people that are on the shows now.
Like I truly was like totally myself was not really thinking about social media when I was on the show or how it was going to be perceived.
I was just in it.
And you can just tell that that is just not the reality of reality TV that we're living in now.
think it really hinders a lot of the relationships that could be formed or the moments for people
to change a pattern because they're scared of what it's going to look like. So I think the biggest thing
that I think needs to be changed is just the intention behind going on these shows and actually
just having a real human experience where you're sometimes going to be the villain. Sometimes
you're going to be the hero. And like, I know that was my experience. There was times where I was
a villain, times where I was a hero of my own story. But like that is what, you know, makes for good
TV, but also allows you to have a genuine connection. I think that is the thing that needs to change
the most. And I do think that like if we're being really critical, I think there was a lot
that was going on and trying to be done in this one scene.
to change up Bachelor in Paradise.
And I think there may be needed, you know, maybe we switch a few things,
not just like everything at once.
Right.
Yeah.
So I think it was a very, it was a learning experience of a summer.
And I feel like the audience was very vocal about what they liked and didn't like.
And I think to keep that in consideration will be great for whenever everybody steps back
of foot on the beach.
I love everything you said.
I feel like it's so true.
And me and Charity have even talked about this.
We are just in a different era.
But I think it's a lot coming from you because you were so yourself and you were so iconic
because like you said, you weren't always focused on what the audience was thinking.
Did you see?
Well, I mean, looking back now, any relationships maybe that you think could have formed,
but they were holding back because they didn't want to be viewed in a certain way.
Okay, guys, that's all for part one with Hannah Brown.
We will be back with Part 2 tomorrow.
Bye.
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