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From fan favorite to villain, Sam M. has had quite the journey on The Bachelorette Season 21. But is he still together with Jenn? You may be surprised by what he’s allegedly said about her since filming ended.
Sam McKinney, a 27-year-old Contractor from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is one of 25 contestants on The Bachelorette Season 21 with Jenn Tran. He was an early fan favorite after he received Jenn’s First Impression Rose—and first kiss—on night one.
Things took a turn for the worse in weeks two and three when Sam M.—who is one of two Sam’s on Jenn’s Bachelorette season, along with Samaun Nejad, a 25-year-old Entrepreneur from Carlsbad, California—started to feud with another of Jenn’s frontrunners, Devin Strader, a 26-year-old Freight Company Owner from Rosenberg, Texas, who had also beefed with other contestants. The drama led fans to dub Sam M. as The Bachelorette Season 21’s villain.
Despite this, Sam M. and Jenn still had undeniable chemistry, which was apparent during Sam M.’s group date in week three, where he and other contestants learned how to strip from Thunder Down Under dancers. The group date was judged by The Bachelorette Australia Season 6’s Becky and Elly Miles, who took note of Sam M. and Jenn’s chemistry but warned her of how physical attraction can be dangerous as one of the sisters ended up with a winner similar to Sam M.
Are Sam M. and Jenn still together from The Bachelorette Season 21?
Jenn and Sam M. are not still together after Jenn sent him home in week six of The Bachelorette Season 21, according to Reality Steve, and they don’t seem to be on good terms either. Jenn eliminated Sam M.—along with Grant Ellis, a 30-year–old Day Trader from Newar, New Jersey, and Spencer Conley, a 30-year-old Pet Portrait Entrepreneur from Dallas, Texas—at the sixth rose ceremony before Hometown Dates.
Prior to his elimination, Sam received The Bachelorette Season 21 First Impression Rose on night one and one one-on-one date with Jenn in week four.
Where are Sam M. and Jenn now after The Bachelorette Season 21?
Sam M.’s ex-girlfriend Rayleigh—who he dated before and after going on The Bachelorette Season 21—claimed to Reality Steve in July 2024 that Sam M. called Jenn a “liar” once he returned from filming The Bachelorette and that Jenn’s winner proved his negative opinion of her.
Jenn’s winner was Devin Strader, a 28-year-old Freight Company Owner from Rosenberg, Texas, who Sam M.—along with other contestants such as Thomas Nguyen and Aaron Erb—feuded with throughout filming The Bachelorette Season 21, according to Reality Steve. Per the site, Jenn and Devin are engaged and still together after Jenn gave her final rose to Devin in The Bachelorette Season 21 finale and he proposed to her. (Her runner-up was Marcus Shoberg, a 31-year-old Army Ranger Veteran from Cloquet, Minnesota.)
“The other thing was when he came back from filming, he told Rayleigh, he thought Jen was a liar. He said, Jen’s feelings are all over the place. And the person she picks at the end is going to prove that that’s what he told Rayleigh really told that to me,” Reality Steve wrote.
Sam M. also hinted at his drama with Jenn and The Bachelorette in a comment reposted by TikTok account ShesAllBach in July 2024, in which he criticized his edit on the show. “Most felt like that and rightfully so. I even felt like that. I was incredibly disheartening to be portrayed in that fashion. Hopefully at the tell all the truth will come out,” he wrote in a since-deleted comment in response to fans questioning his behavior on The Bachelorette. He continued in another comment, “Oh and legally I’m not allowed to speak on it… and now I’m figuring out why.”
Sam M.’s, relative, Olivia McKinney, also accused The Bachelorette of not accurately representing what happened on Jenn’s season. “I’m ready for @bacheloretteabc to show allllll the context they’ve left out,” she wrote.
Olivia could be referring to a controversial moment involving Devin that Reality Steve claimed was cut out of The Bachelorette Season 21 premiere. The site reported that, during a game of “Truth or Dare” on night one, Devin was asked to name a conspiracy theory he believed in, to which he allegedly responded, “I believe 9/11 was an inside job.”
The scene was cut out of The Bachelorette Season 21 premiere, presumably because Devin is Jenn’s winner. Reality Steve also reported that the whole cast, including Jenn, heard Devin’s comment, and the moment was among the real reasons that most of the cast had an issue with him during filming.
Olivia wasn’t the only family member to defend Sam M. on social media, according to more comments reposted by TikTok account Zachary Reality. Another of Sam M.’s relatives, Seth McKinney, also hinted at favoritism toward Devin on The Bachelorette Season 21 in an Instagram comment. “Crazy how they can cut out so much detail to make a person look shallow while making others look like a king,” Seth wrote. “He added in another comment, “crazy thing called producers and editing can make people see what they want not what actually happened.”
Sam M.’s other relative, Hannah, also accused the producers of strategic editing on The Bachelorette Season 21. “Let’s see all the footage @bacheloretteabc…. I’m waiting,” she wrote. When a fan criticized Hannah for not being there during filming, she responded, “I’m sorry that your family doesn’t defend you like we do ours.”
Another of Sam M.’s relatives, Susan McKinney, also shared a Facebook post in which she accused The Bachelorette of trying to “destroy” Sam M.’s character. “There is nothing real about ‘reality’ tv. To destroy someone’s character and manipulate the truth through editing is wrong on so many levels. Isn’t it interesting that the first night favorite is now being made into the villain?” she wrote. “There are several spoilers out there for who she chooses in the end that you can Google for yourself. Sam is a good guy regardless of how he is betrayed and I will no longer sit idly by and not speak up. Hey The Bachelorette it’s called free speech. At least mine is honest which is more than they can say.”
Jeff McKinney, Sam M.’s father, wrote on Facebook, “I choose my words wisely. I have sat idly by this week watching my son a complete wreck on how he was portrayed. Sam has (mostly) been the favorite with the first impression rose, etc. The spoiler was revealed and (in my opinion) the network had to paint Sam as this horrendous guy in order for Jenn not to look like a complete idiot.”
He continued, “Now I know why the network offers free counseling for 1 year after the show. I feel this episode was all fabricated with cut and paste sentences and scenes. Can’t change what he said and how he said it but they can change the scene, script and context and totally change the delivery. That’s the way I feel. Feel free to share this. #ISTANDWITHSAM.”
The Bachelorette airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC. Stream it on Hulu.
