The Bachelorette season 21 is underway, and Jenn Tran is already working through her journey according to spoilers which have revealed who her first hometown date is with. While many feel The Bachelor season 28 with Joey Graziadei just came to an end, Jenn is already at the hometown date portion of her season, having had some amazing opportunities to travel in the early weeks of her time as the lead. Jenn, who was eliminated prior to the hometown dates of Joey’s season, has been able to experience the other side of things as the lead, meeting her contestants’ families.

“Marcus lived in the Seattle area after the army”

According to noted Bachelor spoiler account Reality Steve on X, Jenn’s first hometown date is with 31-year-old Marcus Shoberg in Tacoma, Washington. The pair were spotted filming at Titlow Beach recently, appearing to be having a sweet conversation filled with a lot of laughter.

While Reality Steve shared that Marcus was getting the coveted first hometown, he did share some backstory on the contestant, as well. “A little backstory: Marcus lived in the Seattle area after the army. A lot of his army friends currently still live there,” Reality Steve shared. “He does not have a great relationship with his parents who don’t live in Washington. So my guess is that’s why his hometown is being filmed there.”

How Much Do Hometown Dates Matter In Bachelor Franchise?

Though The Bachelor franchise has always taken pride in the contestants who get to hometown week, there has been some debate surrounding the importance of the dates. While there have been leads who have been swayed one way or another by meeting a contestant’s family, there have been many instances where the hometown dates on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are staged. Some take place in the family homes of the contestants, but many don’t according to Bachelor Nation insiders, including contestants who have had the producers rent spaces they pass off as family homes for filming purposes.

It feels important for the lead to have met a contestant’s family, but there are also circumstances where meeting the family either isn’t of interest to the contestant or isn’t possible. For example, Joey had a difficult hometown date on The Bachelorette season 20 with Charity Lawson. While it made Joey more endearing to Charity, his uncle’s comments about Joey appearing fake could’ve made the lead rethink their relationship. In other circumstances, like The Bachelorette season 13’s Dean Bell, the hometown date was incredibly stressful for the contestant and seemed to change Rachel Lindsay’s opinion about him entirely.

Though hometown dates allow the lead to see the reality of a contestant’s life and, at times, meet the people who raised them, they don’t necessarily bring more insight into who the contestant is as a person. Hometown dates are interesting for viewers, but they’re often produced more than the traditional dates that the lead takes contestants on from week to week. While it may be exciting to see Marcus getting Jenn’s first hometown date of The Bachelorette season 21, the date itself may be difficult for Marcus to get through, and may not matter in Jenn’s final decision.