Bachelorette Hannah Brown has been bringing her all to this season of Dancing with the Stars, but the former pageant participant (who actually used dance as her talent during those not-so-long-ago days) has been having a bit of a rough time on the competition in the past few weeks. Last week Brown and her pro partner, Alan Bersten, had the second lowest score of the night, and this week saw her fighting to hold back tears after judge Carrie Ann Inaba told her she hasn't been connecting with her performances.
After becoming emotional on Monday's episode, Hannah Brown has now taken to Instagram to talk about how difficult her Dancing with the Stars journey has been, and how she wasn't expecting the training and performances to be quite this hard on her, while also opening up about why she decided to do the show so soon after her season of The Bachelorette. Here's part of what Brown had to say:
This experience has been harder than I could have ever imagined. When I decided to do DWTS I thought it would be a fun way to channel all my energy after a whirlwind experience as the Bachelorette. I was hopeful that the confidence I gained this year to take pride in the woman I have become would have the opportunity to shine, and I’d feel that reboot in my spirit after it took a bit of a beating after my bachelorette season. I came into this experience a little broken and confused—more than I’ve shared. Everyday has brought its challenges with my past, my fears, and the uncomfortableness of opening myself up again to be judged on something VERY scary like learning a new skill to perform each week.
Phew. Well, no one can say that Hannah Brown hasn't found at least some way to open up and let fans and other supporters know what she's been going through this year. In fact, it was just about a month ago that Brown told the DWTS audience, after her performance, that even though being on the show "has those ups and downs" that she considered all the effort she was putting into rehearsing and performing every week "such a great therapy" for her.
Of course, Brown said that just a couple of weeks into her Dancing with the Stars experience, and it sounds like now that she's had some more time to absorb what the work involved with the show really means, including learning new skills and then being judged on them in front of millions of people, it's taking a bit of a toll on her psyche.
In her post, Hannah Brown also mentioned that she was hoping that joining DWTS would give her a "reboot in my spirit after it took a bit of a beating" during and after her time on The Bachelorette earlier this year. Back in August, Brown also used her Instagram to let fans in on just how she was doing after not only such a rough season as Bachelorette, but having so much change in just a year. And, Brown admitted that she was "struggling" with many aspects of becoming so famous in a short period of time.
Even though her time on DWTS hasn't been as cut and dry as she thought it would be, at least she does seem to have hope that this path she's on will help her (and maybe others) grow.
I’m not throwing a pity party. I can take criticism and understand hard work...and I also know that my attitude has to change to rise above this slump I’m in. But this is real life. These are real emotions. It’s okay to be grateful and positive, while also acknowledging the hard days we all have. It’s so important to think positively, but it’s also important to acknowledge and feel all the feels. This pressure to pretend is not good for anyone. That’s how this crazy cycle of perfectionism continues to exist in a lot of us.
Man, well, as viewers of The Bachelorette know, Hannah Brown is nothing if not honest about what she's feeling and thinking when she's feeling or thinking it, and this time of her life has been no different. If you'd like to see her full post, you can read it below:
Hopefully, no matter what happens with Hannah Brown on DWTS, she'll come out the other side a better, stronger person and doesn't let any setbacks she has while training hit her too deeply when she moves on. We can all continue to watch Brown set the stage on fire when Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.
