The Bachelorette 's Jeremy Simon wasn't one for drama on Jenn Tran's season , which explains why his airtime was nowhere near some of the other frontrunners. And as such, you weren't alone if you wondered how someone who didn't seem to be on Jenn's radar all that much ended up making it to the final four. (Warning now: Spoilers ahead!) But if you saw last Monday's episode—the sixth of the season—then it all made sense.
Not only did Jenn and Jeremy have such effortless fun together (although I could have certainly done without their jokes about killing each other), they also had the most realistic and important conversation of The Bachelorette thus far. Jeremy opened up about his desire to raise his future kids in the Jewish faith, and the importance of Judaism to him. At a time when antisemitism is the highest it's been in decades, Jeremy's words were met with applause and appreciation on social media.
More so, Jenn telling him that she has a lot of Jewish friends, and often celebrates Shabbat, was a beautiful conversation between two human beings of different faiths. But it didn't stop there. Jenn expressed her desire to raise her kids Buddhist as well, which Jeremy wholeheartedly embraced.
While no one is saying they had their entire interfaith relationship figured out over the course of one 1:1 date, they certainly established a strong foundation to move forward. As a result, Jeremy received a rose, thereby meaning Jenn would visit his family during hometowns . Unfortunately, that's where things frayed—but it had nothing to do with how to raise kids.
Jeremy's mom was the most skeptical parent of the night when it came to endorsing a quick five-week relationship, and her doubts—as well as those of his sister—weighed heavily on Jenn. In the end, Jenn decided to hand out her final three roses to Devin, Marcus, and Jonathon, thereby ending any hope of seeing little Jewish-Buddhists running around in a future Bachelor Nation special. While Jeremy said the elimination “sucked,” he also wanted to make it clear that he doesn't think his mom ruined his chance of a happily ever after with Jenn.
Below, in one of his first interviews since leaving the show, he opens up to Glamour about all the Jewish moms sliding into his DMs, why he's grateful to talk about his faith, and whether Paradise is next. Glamour : The conversation you and Jenn had about the importance of faith and religion, especially when it comes to raising kids, was so important. Jeremy Simon: Well, it's not just me, it's her too.
You need to be just as open to have that conversation. So I appreciate her as well for being open even talking about it. Had you planned on opening up about kids and religion? No.
I mean I never went into any conversation with a plan of what to say. If it went fun, it went fun. If it went a little deeper, it went a little deeper.
And I think it just came up as I was probably thinking about hometowns and my mom. My family is Jewish, obviously, and it sort of just happened and ended up being a really mature and real conversation. The end of the journey is engagement, and after engagement is marriage and kids.
And if I'm going to take that leap of faith, that's important to me. And her response was great. If I'm going to ask her to have Jewish kids, I need to be open to what she wants as well.
It was a great, beautiful, open conversation. It was still fun, too..
.just the idea of breeding Jewish Buddhist kids. What do you love about Judaism that's important for you to carry on? I could get into specifics about Judaism, but to me it's more cultural.
I think about the holidays and my family being so close together. And I do believe a big reason for that is because I was raised Jewish and because it brings you together. So I couldn't imagine a family like my family in the future not having that kind of closeness.
I think the idea of celebrating Shabbat every week is great, but I don't celebrate Shabbat every week, [so] when she said that, I'm like, “Oh, beautiful.” And then when Jenn started speaking Yiddish words, I was like, “Oh, wow!” I was like, "Where'd you get this from?" That was impressive! So let's talk about your hometown date. Do you wish it had gone differently, if anything? No, I never wish that things had gone differently.
I don't blame my mom for asking the tough questions. She could be skeptical. I wanted her to trust me also.
And she does trust me in the fact that if I bring Jenn back, she knows I like her a lot. But that doesn't mean my mom is not going to ask the question she wants to ask. She's a little stubborn like I am, and I'm not going to not say something that I want to say.
And by the way, I don't think my mom ruined anything for me. I think it made Jenn really think about stuff. But watching it all back, I'm like, “Okay, she did have real connections with the other three guys.
” It wasn't fun to watch it back and hear that Jenn thought it was a hard day because while it happened, I thought we were having so much fun. But it is what it is. How did this experience change you, especially with relationships going forward? I don't think it really changed me.
I went into this with the same mindset I go into dating with, which is let me learn to know someone. I think you need to be friends first before obviously thinking about engagement. I don't want to force drama.
I also don't want to force fun. I just want to let things happen. And that's how I played this season and that's how I'm going to play the rest of my life for finding someone.
What's next for you? Would you want to go on Bachelor in Paradise ? I would definitely consider it, but...
it's still [almost a year away]. I take it day by day. And if they offered it to me and I'm single and it seems like the right choice, then yeah, I'll do it.
In the meantime, what's your daily life like? [On the show, my job description said] real estate investor, which is true, but I run sales for a property management [group], so within real estate. And what has it been like now that people are recognizing you from this show? I was in San Diego and everyone recognized me. But in New York, where I spend most of my time, no one gives a shit.
Everyone's so preoccupied with their own lives. They walk fast by you. I mean, I'm recognized, but it's way more calm.
And after last Monday's episode, have you gotten any feedback from fans? I mean the amount of DMs from Jewish mothers being like, "You should date my daughter." It's crazy. It's crazy.
Would you take any of them up on it? Yeah, maybe. I even said this on the show, but historically, I've dated Christian girls. It's just sort of by chance.
But if there's a good Jew out there, I'm down for that. It makes it easier. The Bachelorette airs twice next week, Monday, August 26, and Tuesday, August 27.
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