Former Miss USA Top 10 finalist Mariela “Mari” Pepin knows all about falling in love onscreen. First entering the Bachelor Nation compounds as a contestant on Matt James‘ season of The Bachelor, she ultimately headed to Bachelor in Paradise, where she connected with now-husband Kenny Braasch.
The couple, who got engaged during Season 7 of Paradise, got married in November 2023 in Puerto Rico. The reality TV star is still overjoyed with her romantic partner almost a year later. The 28-year-old marketing director spoke with TV Insider, on behalf of BetUS, about all things Jenn Tran, Grant Ellis, and her thoughts on the current state of the franchise.
What has your first year of marriage been like?
Mari Pepin: It’s been good. We’ve been great. Honestly, I feel like everyone has this expectation, or I guess I had this expectation, but everyone talks about marriage as if it’s so much different than dating or being engaged. Honestly, neither of us feel like it’s that different. We lived together before getting married, and we do the same things now that we’re married. So it feels kind of the same, but we’ve been good.
Why was Bachelor in Paradise a better experience for you, besides obviously finding your husband, than The Bachelor?
Pepin: It was miles better. And I think I say this all the time, too. Even if we hadn’t have ended up together and married out of it, I still would have said that Paradise is the better one to go on just because the environment is much more relaxed. There are a lot more people in relationships that are being focused on in terms of production than The Bachelor or Bachelorette, and that kind of eases the pressure because while they’re over there filming these two people that are having a fight, you get to just relax and hang out on the beach and kind of watch it unfold. Not to mention, you are in a different country on a beach, which is beautiful instead of being cooped up in the same place the entire time.
What would be your advice to anyone joining the next season of Paradise?
Pepin: My advice generally would be: “Just have fun and be open to the process,” because I feel like what has made the last couple of seasons kind of bummers, honestly, was the lack of relationships that came out of it, of course. But number two, I feel like it was very obvious that there were connections and people chatting and hanging out before they got to the beach, which kind of makes it less fun.
How did you feel about The Bachelorette finale, and how do you think Devin Strader handled calling off the engagement?
Pepin: Oh gosh, terrible all around. I think the finale was… it was a gut punch. It was sad and hard to watch, and I honestly was in disbelief because it seemed kind of cruel almost the way that they showed everything, and poor Jenn couldn’t even get the words out of her mouth. I was like, “Oh my gosh, someone get her off stage and let her calm down for a second first.” It was hard to watch her relive that and go through that and tell what happened.
As far as Devin, in the beginning of the season, the first maybe two or so episodes I had him on my radar. I was like, “I don’t know about this guy.” There’s something about him. I don’t know. It was not clicking for me. But for everybody else, I guess generally the public perception of him was like, “Oh, we love this guy. He’s great,” and I was like, “I don’t know. I don’t get it.” Then he did grow on me because I think [with] the audience and Jenn he was able to kind of persuade and make it all sound good and sound nice. And now this all happened and it’s like, I knew there was something going on there, but he did a great job of masking and hiding it, I guess.
Do you think Jenn should go on Bachelor in Paradise?
Pepin: No, I don’t think Jenn should go on Bachelor in Paradise. I feel like the show has demonstrated, with her specifically, what they’re willing to do to get the story that they want. Once you have that in the back of your mind, it’s almost impossible to want to put yourself back into that situation, especially with her situation specifically just being so heartbreaking. I don’t think that she should do it again.
How do you feel about Grant as the new Bachelor?
Pepin: Super excited for Grant. When he was first announced, I was like, “It’s so early that they’re announcing this. I wonder why.” But it makes sense, especially when you take into account what happened with Jenn. I feel like it was a last-minute announcement of her being the Bachelorette, and so we ended up with guys who necessarily might not have been there for her or cared for her specifically. So with Grant, I’m glad that they’re taking the time to actually find women who are there or interested in him specifically. I think that can change the entire trajectory of a season.
How do you and Kenny deal with your relationship being in the public eye?
Pepin: I think there’s a lot more pressure a little bit to go along with the public perception at first. What I mean by that is that during the engagement when you’re hiding from the public, there’s a lot of pressure on you to make your relationship work out because you have people rooting for you and commenting, “I’m watching you guys, and you guys are so great together.” There is a little bit of pressure. But thankfully for us, it didn’t matter anyway because we knew what we were going to end up doing, which was getting married. That didn’t affect us too much. But I will say as a married couple now, there is still a little bit of when we’re out in public, making sure that we’re smiley and happy because otherwise people could take a picture and be like, “Oh my God, look, they have RBF. They must hate each other,” which obviously isn’t true.
Bachelor in Paradise, Season 10, 2025, ABC