Ben Higgins on The Bachelorette premiere: “We still did not get to know a lot about Jenn Tran”

Ben Higgins expressed disappointment with one aspect of The Bachelorette premiere: he wished  viewers could learn more about Jenn Tran.

“We still did not get to know a lot about Jenn, even on this episode,” Ben said on Tuesday, July 9, on an episode of the “Almost Famous” podcast. “She is our Bachelorette, and one of the things that we were — not concerned about — but wanted, desired, was to learn more about Jenn because we did not get to see a ton of Jenn on Joey [Graziadei]’s season of The Bachelor.”

The former Bachelor observed that viewers picked up on some details about Jenn during the July 8 episode of the ABC series, but he felt there was more to discover.

“We got to hear a little bit about her family dynamics and what she wanted, and desired, for life and kind of her schooling,” he said. “I will say I want to learn more about Jenn for one reason and one reason only. I think I really like Jenn.”

Ben commended Jenn for her adept handling of the first night of season 21 of the reality dating series, noting that “her responses, her ability to listen, her ability to make fun, to laugh, to kind of ease the nervousness of all these guys.” He said that Jenn's approach to the premiere was “better than any lead that we’ve seen in recent history.”

“I thought she was amazing on night one,” the former Bachelor commented. “So, I just want to know more about her. I hope we get to.”

Cohost Ashley Iaconetti expressed the wish that viewers will get to see glimpses of Jenn during her one-on-one dates, with minimal editing of her conversations with contestants by the producers.

Bachelor Nation first encountered Jenn during her time competing for Joey, 29, on season 28 of The Bachelor. After the finale in March, where Joey proposed to Kelsey Anderson, Jenn was chosen as the next Bachelorette.

Although Jenn has kept quiet about how her season concludes, she hinted to Us Weekly before the premiere that she is "very happy" with the outcome.

“I can say that I definitely opened my heart up to a lot of different connections and explored a lot of these [men]. The way that things panned out throughout the journey and the way that things ended, I’m very happy about [it],” Jen shared.

Catch The Bachelorette on ABC every Monday at 8 p.m. ET.