Hannah Brown Explains Her Awkward One-On-One Date With Colton Underwood On ‘The Bachelor’

The Bachelor just went on his most awkward date ever. Colton Underwood, the leading man on the ABC dating show, chose pageant queen Hannah Brown for his first one-on-one date of the season. And since it was the Alabama beauty’s birthday, that was even more cause for celebration.

Unfortunately, the date was filled with awkward exchanges and uncomfortable silences as the two went horseback riding through the Vasquez Rocks National Area Park and spent time together in a private outdoor hot tub. After Hannah failed to find the words for a champagne toast, Colton questioned if she was really looking for a serious relationship with him, telling the cameras, “If Hannah can’t open up, I’m not going to be giving her a rose at the end of the night.”

A candlelit dinner on The Queen Mary turned out to be a turning point as Hannah finally opened up to Colton about her issues with self-esteem, and she eventually received the coveted solo date rose. But it was a very close call indeed.

After The Bachelor episode aired, Hannah Brown, who kept a journal during her time on the ABC reality show, took to Instagram to explain why her nerves got the best of her on her birthday date. Miss Alabama 2018 also credited Colton for being so understanding and for giving her a chance to come out of her shell.

“I have my journal from my time on the show and it’s moments like these that I’m so glad I took the time to write down my every feeling,” Hannah B. captioned a photo of her with The Bachelor star.

The beauty queen revealed that while she was excited to go on a day-long date with The Bachelor hunk, she also felt immense pressure because she had only known him for two days at the time.

“I’m freaking so uncomfortable about what the heck I’m doing and I’m supposed to make him googly-eyed over me. Yep, this date was totally uncomfortable and awkward, because I was totally uncomfortable and awkward with everything surrounding me. But thank the Lord this sweet man grins and bears it with me and somehow gets me out of this crazy head of mine to show him a little bit of my heart.”

Many Bachelor fans took to the comments section of the post to praise Hannah Brown for her honesty about her near-disastrous date with Colton Underwood.

“I love that she kept a journal and is so pure and genuine!” one follower wrote, while another fan added, “I think for many of the young women out there who also have moments of doubt, watching a beauty queen experience that as well can be very healing.”

Others weren’t as positive. “I’ll be honest, it was super hard to watch,” one Bachelor fan admitted.

While Hannah Brown has now opened up to Colton Underwood on The Bachelor, she previously told Alabama Newscenter that being a perfect pageant queen took its toll on her self-esteem and that’s she went to a “dark place” at one point.

“People always have an opinion about what you do, what you say, how you walk, how you dress,” Hannah explained. “I took the wrong outlook on what pageantry should be — I thought my self-worth was through recognition.”

Hannah Brown ultimately decided to take some time off from the pageant circuit to find the “light in each day.”

The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.