Hannah Brown Admitted She "Faked A Smile" While Jed Wyatt Proposed

While Bachelor Nation proposals usually look straight out of a fairytale, a former star remembers her season finale differently. On the first anniversary of their engagement, Hannah Brown opened up about why Jed Wyatt's proposal felt completely wrong. In a lengthy Instagram caption posted on May 11, 2020, Brown recalled the ill-fated ordeal.

"I remember thinking, 'Oh, this has all the makings to be the best day of my life... but gah, it doesn’t feel like I thought it would,'" she wrote. "I didn’t have words (or maybe I just didn’t have the courage to say them?) but the pit in my stomach was screaming, 'This ain’t it.'"

The Dancing with the Stars alum shared she had concerns about saying "yes," even as she appeared to joyfully accept the proposal. "I could fake a smile but I couldn’t shake the doubt, and looking back, I know why," she said. "That ending was not easy, but it was necessary to get me here.⁣"

The engagement was short-lived. Two days after the proposal, Wyatt told Brown he had broken off a "nothing" relationship with another woman in order to appear on The Bachelorette. Brown later learned he had never verbally ended his previous relationship. She announced during the series' "After the Final Rose" episode on July 30 2019 that she and Wyatt were no longer engaged.

Fans might remember that Brown visibly had cold feet the day Wyatt proposed. "I am conflicted in my heart," she said the morning of the proposal, while still deciding between her finalists, Tyler Cameron and Wyatt. “I was hopeful that I would have clarity but like today I don’t know. I don’t want to not be 100 percent sure and then make the wrong decision.”

On her way to the proposal site, she asked the driver of the car to pull over. She got out of the car, took a few steps, and tripped. From her spot on the ground, she told a producer, "I really can't do this."

She ultimately chose to continue onto the proposal site, where Cameron was the first suitor to arrive. He told Brown he loved her, but before he could propose, she cut him off.

“I am so lucky to be loved by you and to feel that,” she said. “You have supported me, you have been so sweet and strong for me and done everything that I’ve asked and more, and loved me so much. And my life with you would be amazing. And when I told you I was falling in love with you, I mean it. But I love someone else. I’m so sorry.”

Wyatt arrived next, and accompanied his proposal with a song he wrote for Alabama Hannah. She accepted.

In the year since that day, they've both moved on: Wyatt is now happily quarantined with his girlfriend Ellen Decker, and Brown says she's ready to fall in love with someone outside the Bachelor world when the pandemic is over. All's well that ends well, right?