Hannah B. Handled Her Blindsiding Bachelor Exit Like A Boss

If anyone has been a fascinating character during Colton Underwood's season of The Bachelor, it is Alabama Hannah herself, Hannah Brown (especially after the exit of Demi Burnett). Over the last seven weeks, Miss Alabama has been cringeworthy, fixated to the point of near self-destruction, emotionally wide open, lovably, charmingly weird, and about 500 other emotions. Who else roared with abandon? Who else sank a pool party with their tears and fears? Only Hannah B., that’s who.

After multiple brushes with elimination amid the Great Caelynn Miller-Keyes Pageant Feud Of Season 23, Hannah was officially sent home from The Bachelor on “Week 7.” While the 23-year-old’s early season antics may have been alienating to some, Hannah Beast’s exit hurt more than any other contestant’s this year. This was an unsuspecting woman who had the romance rug pulled out from underneath her — and after meeting the Bachelor’s parents, no less.

Yet, following a season of tears, Hannah left Colton looking stronger than ever. Hannah’s elimination was that of a true boss.

All of the signs in Hannah’s “Week 7” date positioned the pageant queen as a frontrunner. Not only did she get a one-on-one during the most important week of the season, but that date also brought her home to the Underwoods. “Family’s everything to me,” Colton explains in a confessional at the start of the outing. Since that is a sentiment Colton has shared repeatedly this season, it stands to reason Hannah must mean a lot to the Bachelor if he’s willing to open up the most vital part of his life to her. Hannah certainly believes that, gushing in her own one-on-one ITM, “That’s a really big deal!”

Then, the second part of Hannah’s date arrives. After Colton leaves his parents' home looking a little bit too much like Dustin Hoffman at the end of The Graduate, he and Hannah head to the fancy, military hangar-set portion of their date. Here, Hannah reiterates her readiness to marry Colton, the fact that she doesn’t feel like she’s “missing out” on anything else with him, and her growing love for the Bachelor. It’s all of the reassurance and honesty Colton has been asking for after the many troubling premonitions he was bombarded with last week.

So, he sends Hannah B. home. She has done everything Colton asked, meant every word of it, and looked pageant-ready the entire time to boot. Knowing what we know about Hannah — namely, her paramount fear of not being “perfect” — it’s easy to assume she might melt down over being eliminated after following every one of Colton’s rules. That isn’t at all what occurs.

Colton explains he can’t shake Hannah’s father’s hand — no mention of her mom here — if he doesn’t love her back. A blindsided Hannah responds, “I’m glad to know that now. I wouldn’t want you to come meet my family if you don’t feel that way. I don’t deserve that.” This is a woman who knows her worth without question and isn’t going to let Colton give her any less. Hannah proves as much for the rest of her screen time on The Bachelor. When Colton attempts to utilize his patronizing elimination speech on her to say, “I know there’s somebody for you,” she shakes her head and shoots back, “I know that.” When he adds she’s “going to make someone incredibly happy,” Hannah just looks off to the side breathes, “Mmm-hmm.”

Colton even gives Hannah a hug, and his body language suggests he expects her to break down sobbing in his arms. Instead, she gives him a short embrace, and they walk out of the hangar. All of a sudden, you realize Hannah’s supposedly sweet bubblegum pink gown actually has a very Angelina Jolie-esque, spy movie-ready slit up one leg. Her final words to Colton aren’t teary ones — they’re ones of continued warning. “Man, like, just listen to people,” she reminds him before slipping into a limo.

While that would have been a noteworthy exit on its own, it’s Hannah’s elimination limo ride that cements her as a force to be reckoned with. “I’m fucking pissed,” she admits before explaining there’s a gulf between Colton’s actions and words. He may say he wants a challenging, spontaneous, funny woman, Hannah says, but he just sent that woman home. However, that doesn’t mean she’s done searching for her true match. “The desire of my heart is to be loved so fearlessly by somebody. I will not allow myself to not feel chosen every single day. And I’ll wait till whenever that is,” Hannah says between tears. It’s one of the most thoughtful, empowered romantic mission statements of The Bachelor — and a major reminder no one has to accept meager love kernels when entire oceans of affection could be out there.

It’s no surprise that within moments of Hannah’s powerful farewell statement, Bachelor(ette) creator Mike Fleiss tweeted out, “Now who do you think should be our next #TheBachelorette?”

(ABC and Warner Bros. declined to comment on Hannah Brown's Bachelorette prospects.)