Along with getting advice from previous Bachelorettes Kaitlyn Bristowe, Ali Fedotowsky, and Desiree Hartsock Siegfried, JoJo Fletcher will hang out with former Bachelor Jake Pavelka on The Bachelorette this season. After Jake showed up in the season premiere, Bachelor Nation was understandably curious about how JoJo and Jake Pavelka met. Jake started his career with the ABC dating series by being a contestant on Jillian Harris' season of The Bachelorette before starring on his own season of The Bachelor and controversially choosing Vienna Girardi. However, it is not just his own Bachelor experience that makes Jake a great choice to give JoJo advice — the two share a long history.
For those who panicked upon first hearing the rumors that Jake would be on The Bachelorette and thought he might be vying for JoJo's heart, have no fear. Jake has much more of an older brother vibe than that of romantic interest when it comes to JoJo, which is due to their family history.
Jake tweeted at the end of Ben Higgins' Bachelor season about JoJo becoming the next Bachelorette. A fan tweeted back at him to see if he would be interested in returning to the series to compete for JoJo's affections. Jake replied that JoJo is indeed like a sister to him and that he has known her family for 30 years, so understandably, he wasn't interested in JoJo in that way.
While I can't find hard evidence of how JoJo's family met Jake's, Inquisitr wrote about JoJo before she appeared on The Bachelor and reported that JoJo's brothers went to high school with Jake. Based on the fact that Jake's tweets said he has known JoJo's family for 30 years, he clearly knew them before high school too, but both airline pilot Jake and real estate developer JoJo call Dallas, Texas their hometowns, so it is possible that Jake went to high school with JoJo's brothers Ben and Martin Patton. Bachelor Nation met JoJo's two older brothers when she brought Ben home to meet her family and they were extremely protective of her. However, her brother Ben already had his own experience in the reality TV dating game since he was a participant of NBC's failed show Ready for Love.
Ben and Jake do appear to be buddies. For instance, over three years ago in one her first Instagram posts, JoJo shared a photo of her going shooting with both Jake and her brother Ben.
Ben also shared a photo of him hanging out with Jake over three years ago at a birthday party.
No matter how exactly JoJo and Jake first met, The Bachelorette contestants have no need to feel threatened by Jake. And for even more on those contestants, check out Bustle's podcast Will You Accept This Podcast?
Although, considering how tough her brothers were on Ben, any guys that mess with JoJo's feeling this season might just have to answer to Ben, Martin, and Jake.
Image: Rick Rowell/ABC
