Who Is Holly Allen? ‘Bachelorette’ Alum Luke Pell’s Controversial Ex Joins ‘Big Brother 21’
Big Brother Season 21 features a cast of newcomers, but one houseguest’s name may be familiar to reality TV fans. Holly Allen, one of 16 newcomers headed to the CBS summertime house, has made headlines in recent years for her on-off relationship with a popular alum from ABC’s The Bachelor franchise.
Holly Allen, 31, dated The Bachelorette and The Bachelor: Winter Games alum Luke Pell on and off for months before they split for good in May 2018, Us Weekly reports. The breakup was not good.
On her CBS bio, it is revealed that Allen is from Wyoming but now lives in Los Angeles, a sign that she moved to L.A. to look for fame. Holly Allen, whose occupation is listed as a “wine safari guide,” also briefly lived in Nashville with Pell, who was a finalist on JoJo Fletcher’s season of The Bachelorette in 2016 and a major Bachelor frontrunner before getting passed over for Nick Viall at the last minute in 2017.
Big Brother diehards will be annoyed to know that Allen is not a superfan of the CBS reality show. On her cast bio, she admitted that she has not seen enough episodes of Big Brother “to have a favorite” past contestant, yet she claims to have “plenty of strategies already stacked up” before moving into the CBS summertime house.
Allen also admitted that she “lives” on her phone and that being without it for three months “will admittedly be a struggle.”
After the Big Brother Season 21 cast was announced, eagle-eyed Bachelor fans quickly zeroed in on Holly Allen, as you can see by the social media reaction below. Some fans tweeted that Holly was a casting recruit who is “clearly” looking for fame.
Holly Allen use to date Luke Pell from the bachelorette https://t.co/rk39cgA03t #bb21
— ?????? (@Amanda09ox) June 17, 2019
Kinda unfair to put Holly Allen on #bb21 with a guy who looks like Luke Pell
— Matt Roast (@HeyMattRoast) June 17, 2019
In 2018, Luke Pell made headlines for his relationship with Holly Allen after his stint on The Bachelor: Winter Games. At the time, Pell told People that he went on The Bachelor spinoff to find love after a breakup with Allen. While Pell bonded with contestant Stassi Yaramchuk during filming, he later revealed that it was during that time that he also realized that his heart was with someone else.
“I went on the show to find love, and I did find love,” Pell told People. “It made me realize where my heart was, and that was to reconcile with my ex.”
Luke Pell reconnected with ex-girlfriend Holly Allen and revealed they were back together and stronger than ever. Yet, some fans speculated that Pell never broke up with Holly before heading to Winter Games.
Either way, less than six months later, the couple split for good. After Pell’s breakup with Allen last May, the future Big Brother star went on spoiler king Reality Steve’s podcast and talked in depth about her private relationship with the Bachelor Nation fan favorite. In an explosive tell-all, Holly revealed Luke’s reasons for signing on to The Bachelor: Winter Games and alleged that they announced that they got back together right after the Winter Games reunion finale disaster for “damage control” after he dumped Stassi.
In an interview on The Rose Buds Podcast, Pell called out Holly for her “vindictive” and “angry” interview and expressed disappointment that she chose not to respect the privacy of their relationship. Luke added that he believed Holly did the two-hour tell-all out of anger over their breakup.
After Holly Allen’s Big Brother 21 casting was announced, Reality Steve tweeted, “Excited for her. Actually have a reason to watch the show now. (Well, until she gets eliminated then I’ll probably stop).”
No matter how long she stays on the show, with CBS’ cameras now on her 24/7, it will be a surprise if Holly Allen doesn’t dish on her relationship with Luke Pell.
Big Brother 21 premieres Tuesday, June 25, on CBS.
