Hannah Brown isn't interested in dating Matt James, but whoever is interested in dating him had better be a fan of hers.
The former Bachelorette joined fellow former Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe on the Off the Vine podcast on Tuesday and opened up about her friendship with the new Bachelor. While they met through Hannah's TV ex Tyler Cameron, the two have become such close friends that Hannah went above and beyond when it came to prepping Matt for his journey to find love on TV.
"I actually sent him a journal," Hannah told Kaitlyn, explaining that she journaled all the way through The Bachelor. She also sent him two books. "I've never known somebody on the show beforehand like this and actually cared for his heart and want him to just be happy after this. There's a reason that we're both in each other's lives."
Hannah said that at first, she didn't really have the "fondest feelings" about Matt, but now they're BFFs, and any girl Matt falls in love with is going to have to get used to it.
"I wrote in the journal, 'Just make sure she likes me and she's OK with me being your BFF.'"
Hannah spent time with Matt and Tyler in Florida at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. They quarantined together and made dance videos on TikTok while apparently also becoming the best of friends.
"It's been such a good relationship to know that the boundaries are there and the respect is there and it's all good," she said after Kaitlyn joked that this could be the beginning of a rom-com. "It's awesome. I told Tyler, 'I one thousand percent stole your best friend. I mean, we can share, but I'm not kidding that we share.'"
Now that Matt is also following in Hannah's footsteps as a Bachelor franchise lead, she did her absolute best to prepare him for what he was about to be dealing with. She not only sent him a journal of her own thoughts, but she got his mom to write him a letter too.
"My biggest thing for him is just like, remember who you are," she said. "These are your choices, it's your life. Prepare. Write down what you want in a wife, what type of life do you want so that when you go on these dates, you can look back and be like, 'Is this lining up or was that just a magical date because there are fireworks and the horses and the violinists?'"
The best way to find success on the show, Hannah explained, is to not "get wrapped up in it."
"You can, and it's nobody's fault. It's just an alternate reality," she said. "Reality TV—it's still real, but it's different."
Now that filming is underway, Hannah is in a text group with Matt's mom and communicating with Matt through the show's producers.
"I actually messaged his producers today and I asked them if he had gotten the journal and he had, and then I was like, 'Will you say Hannah said she wanted you to listen to this song?'" she said. "So she sent me a video of him dancing to our song back to me, and like, the boy was rocking his turtleneck. He was looking good. He seems happy, and that made me feel good."
Filming for The Bachelor is currently underway at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Pennsylvania, and the season will premiere in January.