The Bachelorette‘s “Men Tell All” episode welcomed 15 of Jenn Tran’s exes to the studio to reminisce on their best and worst Season 21 memories, and naturally, the night wouldn’t be complete without the return of Sam McKinney.
For those who need a refresher on All Things Sam M., the 27-year-old contractor from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina went from first impression to worst impression and said incredibly insulting things to Jenn on their last date.
When asked to share his first impression of Jenn in Episode 6, Sam M. recalled, “I got out of limo and thought, ‘This girl is not my type.’” Rather than stop there, he continued with, “I thought the Bachelorette was going to be Daisy [Kent] or Maria [Georgas],’” in reference to two fan-favorite Bachelor Season 28 contestants.
Shortly after Sam M. took the “Men Tell All” hot seat, fourth runner-up Jeremy Simon brought up the gasp-worthy Episode 6 comment, saying, “He’s talking about eyes a lot — about Jenn’s eyes — but I think he might have had eyes for Maria or Daisy.” In response, Sam M. attempted to defend himself and wound up bickering with the guys in the process.
“I’m really glad you brought that up. Truthfully. Whenever we all came out here, we had no idea who the Bachelorette was going to be,” Sam said. “If anybody’s going to sit up here and say they didn’t think it was going to be Daisy or Maria, you guys are liars.”
Before the guys pushed back, Sam added, “What I want to say with all of that is I remember telling my parents — I was like, ‘I don’t see it working out with either of them.’ Truthfully.” As you might imagine, that comment made things significantly worse, because as the men asked, why the heck would he have come on The Bachelorette if he didn’t see if working out with his two assumed leads?! (The math isn’t mathing, as they say.)
After being asked why he pursued the show if he knew Daisy or Maria weren’t the lead, Sam said, “Because it wasn’t either of them, and Jenn was somebody that I didn’t know. And after two conversations with her, I thought, ‘Damn, this girl is legit right here.’ So yeah, that was really where that statement came from, right there. It had no disrespect to her. And if it came across like that, then once again, I can continue to apologize for my delivery, because I know it needs work.”
When the men reminded Sam that regardless of his intention, the comment was incredibly disrespectful and he shouldn’t have said it, he agreed with a “100 percent.” The Season 21 contestant spent the night defending himself and taking some accountability, and he also had a long-overdue reunion with Jenn.
Wondering how Jenn Tran’s Bachelorette journey ends? Tune into the three-hour live finale event live Tuesday, September 3 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.