‘The Bachelorette’ Alum Hannah Brown Roasted for ‘Contagious’ Bikini Photo Caption

Former The Bachelorette star Hannah Brown has come under fire for sharing a pair of bikini photos Friday, amid the coronavirus pandemic. In her caption, she jokingly asked fans, “What’s more contagious than a smile?” For many, the answer is obvious. It’s the highly contagious coronavirus, which causes the illness COVID-19.

On Friday, the Dancing With The Stars champion shared two photos of herself wearing a striped string bikini, taken in a tropical paradise. It is not clear if the photos were taken recently, but the post was enough to anger many of her Instagram followers. Many simply responded “the coronavirus,” prompting her to respond “Shh, spread love not fear” to one commenter.

After sensing her caption was not going over well, Brown, 25, tried to explain herself. “Just trying to spread some love here rather than fear, not making light of the situation,” she added in the caption, including a praying hands emoji.

Anger directed towards Brown’s Instagram post spread to Twitter, where users were horrified by her attempt to make light of the situation.

“Just want to add that I am a fan of Hannah, but regardless of how I feel about her or her intent behind this to ‘lighten the mood,’ people are dying, people are losing their sources of income, and this is incredibly insensitive,” one person tweeted.

“I mean she looks all cute and glowy but. Like. Places of employment have been shut down,” another commented. “And it’s not cause of a contagious smile.”

Brown is a former Miss Alabama USA and starred in Colton Underwood’s season of The Bachelor. She also starred as The Bachelorette last year. The season ended with her getting engaged to Jed Wyatt, but she broke it off after she learned he was in a relationship up until The Bachelorette started. She asked Tyler Cameron out on a date. Although the two broke up, there have been rumors they rekindled their romance after they were seen together earlier this month. Brown visited Jupiter, Florida to join Cameron after his mother, Andrea Hermann Cameron, died of a brain aneurysm on Feb. 29.

More recently, the two took part in the “Flip the Switch” viral craze on TikTok. Brown first danced in a tank top to Drake’s “Nonstop” before Cameron danced in the exact same outfit with friends.

“Tyler and Hannah are just friends,” a source told PEOPLE earlier this month. “They went through this crazy ride on The Bachelorette together in front of the whole world and will always be bonded because of it. There’s no bitterness there.”

“It meant a lot to him that she came to support him in his time of need. He was able to show her around Jupiter, introduce her to his friends, and have some good laughs,” the source continued. “Just being able to hang out together, smile, and take his mind of things has been really helpful to Tyler’s grieving process. It’s just what he needed.”

The number of coronavirus cases continues to climb in the U.S. As of Saturday, there are more than 23,000 cases in the country, and have been 278 recorded deaths, reports Johns Hopkins University.

Photo credit: Jemal Countess/FilmMagic/Getty Images