Bachelor Nation Contestants Who Were Friends Before the Show

One way many Bachelor Nation contestants have gotten on the reality dating show is by knowing someone who is already in the franchise.

Take Hannah Ann Sluss, for instance. The model won season 24 of The Bachelor and got engaged to now-ex Peter Weber. Former host Chris Harrison revealed franchise favorite Hannah Godwin actually referred her pal to the producers.

“She had this great, beautiful girl – Hannah Ann — and gave us another Hannah,” Chris said at the time, adding the brunette beauty was “naive” about the Bachelor world.

Hannah G. first appeared on Colton Underwood’s season, where she finished third, and went on to get engaged to fiancé Dylan Barbour during season 6 of Bachelor in Paradise. Funny enough, she had her own ties to the franchise beforehand, as well.

While the Alabama native was already a successful influencer with nearly 100,000 Instagram followers before joining the cast, she was also friends with Chris Soules’ former contestant Danielle Maltby.

“America, get ready to fall in love with this amazing, kind, funny, sweet spirit,” the nurse wrote before Colton’s season. It’s unclear how the two ladies know each other.

Some friendships can really propel someone forward in the franchise. A perfect example of this is Tyler Cameron and Matt James’ close bond.

Tyler became a fan favorite while vying for Hannah Brown’s heart during season 15 of The Bachelorette, where he was the runner-up. The Florida native encouraged his NYC roommate to join the franchise and even asked fans to nominate Matt for Clare Crawley’s season.

“My goal is to get him on. He needs some convincing, so everybody get after him, get him convinced to go, and he’ll be a great guy for the show,” the Bachelorette alum said on the “Viall Files” podcast in 2019.

Not only did Matt get cast as a Bachelorette contestant, but he completely surpassed Clare’s season while it was on hiatus amid the coronavirus pandemic and became season 25’s Bachelor.

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“Congrats to my brother @mattjames919 on being named the Bachelor. This is all a testament of who you are as a person,” Tyler wrote via Instagram after news broke that Matt was named the franchise’s first Black leading man. “Now, the world gets to see the person you are and the heart you have. You can change the world. Proud of you and so excited for you. Not excited that somebody will be taking my spot as your snuggle buddy.”

Matt went on to meet girlfriend Rachael Kirkconnell, who won his season. Although they briefly split amid her racist social media scandal, the pair got back together.

Keep scrolling to see more Bachelor Nations stars who were friends before the franchise.

Tia Booth and Raven Gates

Raven Gates was runner-up on Nick Viall’s season and went on to find love with husband Adam Gottschalk on BiP. She also recruited her hometown pal Tia Booth for the franchise.

Tia went the distance with Arie Luyendyk Jr. on season 23 of The Bachelor and has now competed twice on Paradise.

Danielle Maltby and Wells Adams

Before Hannah G. and Hannah Ann, Danielle had her own ties to Bachelor Nation because of Paradise bartender Wells Adams.
The two were “friends for years” before Wells joined the franchise on JoJo Fletcher’s season, he told Glamour. Although the pals shared a kiss on BiP season 4, they remain platonic friends to this day.

Whitney Fransway and JoJo Fletcher

Whitney Fransway and former Bachelorette JoJo knew each other through the leading lady’s ex Chad Rookstool.
After JoJo appeared on Ben Higgins’ season and then became a lead, Whitney looked for love on season 21 of The Bachelor followed by season 6 of BiP. It’s unclear if the ladies are still friends.