'DWTS' contestant's tribute to Taylor Swift wasn't just for show — the reason is surprisingly personal
Jenn Tran showcased her love for Taylor Swift on 'Dancing With The Stars'! During an episode of 'DWTS' Season 33, which dropped on October 15, 2024, Tran and her partner, Sasha Farber, performed a foxtrot routine which was set to 'The Archer', a song from Swift's seventh studio album named 'Lover', which was released in 2019. During an interview with Fox News Digital after her performance, Tran revealed the reason behind dedicating her performance to Swift and she said, "It was important for me to dedicate my dance to Taylor Swift especially beacuse I wanted to dance to the song 'The Archer' and the song 'The Archer' just speaks so much about flaws, insecurities and feeling like you're at your worst, you're unlovable and constantly feeling like people are gonna leave you because you are not enough or you're too much."
'The Bachelorette' alum further elaborated, "And I felt I've lived a lot of my life feeling that way, and now I have come to a point in my life where I don't feel that way anymore. And I mean, there are times when you slip into those moments. And that's the thing with depression and anxiety is that it comes and goes but I really wanted to dance to this because I wanted it to be a message to everybody out there that you can feel those things and you're not alone and that you can overcome them and that you're a lot stronger than you really think you are."
When Tran was asked how she deals with anxiety and depression, she replied, "Yeah, it's tough. It's different every time. But for me, I really try to ground myself in the factor of like I'm the only person who can pull myself out of those moments. You can have your friends and family tell you how much you're beautiful and they love you, you have so much life to live but you are the only person that can ever talk yourself out of feeling that way and so I try to do one little thing for myself every day if I'm in these moods like whether it's working out, eating healthy or going out to see a friend or going to a park for five minutes, whatever it is to just slowly get myself feeling normal again. So it's just taking baby steps and knowing that you have to find the power from within."
Soon after, Farber entered the chat, and he couldn't stop gushing over Tran's dance moves, and he went on to say, "She crushed it. She was amazing. It's an emotional song, and it was very hard, and she kept her composure, showed so much emotion, and she was just gliding across that floor." During their time on 'DWTS', Tran and Farber delivered some spectacular performances, but sadly, they failed to win the mirrorball trophy. The duo faced elimination during the series’ Halloween episode, which aired on October 29.
In a conversation with E! News after their elimination, Tran stated that the time she spent with Farber was the highlight of her experience on the show. At that time, Tran exclaimed, “Every day in rehearsals was such a blessing. To be able to dance with him and just have fun together. Even when we got on each other’s nerves, we had the best time every day, and I’m really gonna miss it.” On the other hand, Farber quipped, “I’m so proud of her.”