‘Bachelorette’ Hannah Brown Reveals Why She Kept Luke P. Around So Long

The “Luke P. Show is over,” Bachelorette Hannah Brown promised viewers after giving season “villain” Luke Parker a piece of her mind on Monday’s Men Tell All special. While Bachelor Nation pleaded with The Bachelorette lead to send Parker packing week after week, Brown explained to host Chris Harrison that her conflicted feelings about starring in her season may have led to keeping him around so long.

“I will never try to say that the feelings that I had for him weren’t real, because they were,” she told Harrison, explaining that her feelings for Parker were the closest to love at first sight she’s ever experienced.

“I think a lot of that came from being really insecure about being the Bachelorette in the first place,” she continued to the host. “I remember when I got the call from you, I was so excited but also I had this doubt of, ‘Oh my gosh, am I going to be able to be this? Are the guys going to be disappointed?’ I didn’t know if I was going to live up to this standard that I thought I had to live up to and the first night there, there is this huge fear of what your intentions are. Are they for fame? Are they for career? Are they for building a platform? Is it for you to just continue to be a personality?”

With Parker declaring his feelings for Brown so early on, she explained, “There was safety in that, and he gave me hope from the beginning, and I held onto it a lot longer than I should have.”

“But ultimately, I’m really glad that relationship is behind me,” Brown continued. “I learned a lot from the experiences I went through and the heartbreak I ultimately went through from discovering that I deserved so much more than I could put up with.”

The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Photo credit: ABC/John Fleenor