It's hard to get on The Bachelor via open casting call alone, but it certainly helps if you already have a Bachelor Nation connection. Bachelor contestant Hannah G.'s Instagram reveals that Colton's contestant is friends with a former Bachelor star — Danielle Maltby, or Danielle M. as she was known when she competed on Nick Viall's season and Bachelor in Paradise Season 4.
Hannah and Danielle were already friends before Danielle's Bachelor season even started airing, and they spent New Year's 2017 together. It's not exactly clear how their friendship started, since they don't live in the same place. (Hannah lives in Alabama and Danielle is based in Nashville, Tennessee). But you can probably thank the model/influencer lifestyle for bringing them together.
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According to her LinkedIn, Hannah is the media manager for Soca Clothing, a boutique in Alabama. Hannah also models for the brand, and it seems Danielle does too because most of their selfies together have the brand tagged in the shots. Both women have quite an audience on Instagram, and Hannah's website shows she had already declared herself an influencer before she ever went on the show. (Hopefully that means she's there for the right reasons considering she's already checked the influencer box without even needing The Bachelor limelight.) Danielle is a nurse for her day job, but her Instagram shows that she dabbles in that influencer game as well. But what might have just started as a Soca Clothing modeling gig together seems to have blossomed into an actual friendship.
Between their two Instagram accounts, there are photos of Hannah and Danielle sipping mimosas, catching up over brunch, and taking mirror selfies together. Some of those shots seem like promotional material for Soca Clothing, but there are some candid pictures of the two as well. "Always love getting to see this stunnah," Danielle captioned one selfie of the two of them. "#teammaltshaker," Hannah captioned another photo, giving Danielle her own hashtag.
And while it's not clear whether or not Danielle passed Hannah's name along to producers to cast her for Colton's show, Danielle is thrilled to get to root her friend on during this chapter of her life. "So happy the girls have been announced! I can’t wait to watch your journey on @bachelorabc, my love," Danielle wrote on a sweet selfie of her and Hannah. "America, get ready to fall in love with this amazing, kind, funny, sweet spirit @hannahg11."
The Bachelor is a unique experience that's hard to prepare for if you don't know what to expect. Lucky for Hannah, she had Danielle to prep her before she stepped out of that limo. Now here's hoping she has a slightly better time on the show than Danielle — who got sent home without the final rose. But even if Hannah loses, at least she'll have a friend to commiserate and connect with over this one-of-a-kind situation.