![Sam McKinney holding a bird while posing with Jenn Tran in 'The Bachelorette' Season 21](https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Sam-McKinney-The-Bachelorette-.webp)
‘The Bachelorette’: Devin Strader Explained Why Sam McKinney Hated Him
ABC’s The Bachelorette Season 21 shows the division between Devin Strader and Sam McKinney. Jenn Tran gave Sam the First Impression Rose, but Devin captured Jenn’s heart since the first group date. Sam strongly dislikes Devin’s conduct during the season, as he feels Devin acts unfairly and disrespectfully to the other men. Here’s what Devin recently said about why he believes Sam hates him.
[Spoiler alert: Potential spoilers ahead regarding Sam McKinney and Devin Strader in The Bachelorette Season 21.]
Why did Sam McKinney hate Devin Strader in ‘The Bachelorette’ Season 21? Here’s what Devin said
![Devin Strader sitting in a field with Jenn Tran and a sheep during a date in 'The Bachelorette' Season 21](https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Jenn-Tran-Devin-Strader-The-Bachelorette-Season-21.webp?strip=all&quality=80)
Sam McKinney and Devin Strader have hated each other since The Bachelorette Season 21 began. Devin’s loud and funny personality rubs Sam the wrong way, and Sam gets upset when Devin pulls Jenn Tran aside during group dates. Devin dislikes Sam equally, as he doesn’t believe Sam is a good fit for Jenn. Recently, Devin spoke on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast about the conflict between him and Sam.
While on the podcast, Devin said he may have “pissed off a couple of his buddies, like [Aaron Erb] and [Thomas Nguyen],” which fueled the hate early on.
“I think he maybe thought that I could’ve been two-faced somehow, based on the way that I’ve been acting, like, ‘There’s no way this is who he is; he’s got to be somebody different,'” Devin continued. ” … I think that, in my mind, the reason Sam doesn’t like me is because he’s probably met somebody like me in real life that he doesn’t like, and he’s associating me with that person. And no matter what I say or do, it’s always going to have that effect on him.”
Devin noted that he “made the same a**” of himself in front of the men as he did in front of Jenn, proving his authenticity. “I make people laugh, and I’m very embracing and comforting when it comes to people, so for me, I didn’t know,” he added. “But in my mind, I was like, ‘OK, this isn’t going to change. So, if it’s not going to change, I might as well have a little fun with it.'”
Devin Strader was spotted wearing a sweatshirt with Sam McKinney’s signature phrase
Bachelorette Season 21 contestant Devin Strader has no issue trolling Sam McKinney. A photo posted to Reddit shows Devin wearing a sweatshirt with the saying, “Keep the main thing the main thing,” which is Sam’s signature saying. Another slide shows contestant Austin Ott wearing the same sweatshirt.
Sam says this consistently when referring to Jenn Tran. His friend and fellow contestant, Thomas Nguyen, also picked up on the saying. It makes sense that Devin would poke fun at these men, as they hated him the most.
Austin posted a TikTok of him wearing the sweatshirt with a voiceover of Sam saying, “Keep the main thing the main thing.”
Jenn Tran called the men in her season ‘catty’ and ‘aggressive’
Jenn Tran didn’t see all of the drama unfold in The Bachelorette Season 21, especially when it came to Devin Strader and Sam McKinney. However, she sees it watching back. She spoke on The Viall Files podcast about how the men were more “catty” and “aggressive” than anticipated.
“I didn’t realize how catty they were, to be honest,” Jenn said. “I had no idea any of those scenes were going on. With the cocktail party, I didn’t know any of them were being so aggressive and shouting and all this fighting. I had no idea, which I’m mad about. Like, let me listen in. Let me be a fly on the wall. But yeah, I’m surprised to see how passionate they all were.”
The Bachelorette Season 21 airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.