Your New 'Bachelorette' Is Stirring Up The Controversy For A Silly Reason

You've been hearing about the latest Bachelorette, Hannah, for awhile now. She burst onto Colton's Underwood's season of the Bachelor and quickly became the show's anti-hero. You either loved her or loved to be annoyed by her. Either way, she recovered from the Colton breakup and is on a journey to find love of her own. Considering she celebrated a birthday with Colton on the show, how old is Hannah B. now? The Bachelorette's age seems to be a hot topic, because the former pageant queen is younger than you may realize.

Your reigning Bachelorette turned 24 on Sept. 24 last year so she's technically 24 and eight months. Since the show's been filming for a couple months now, she's the youngest Bachelorette in the show's history — by just a year to previous season's JoJo Fletcher, who was 25. So, what's the big deal? Everyone is ready for a serious relationship at different times. You can't even judge Hannah for being 23 when she appeared on Colton's season, because age is really just a number.

A lot of chatter seems to revolve around the juxtaposition of oldest former Bachelorette's age, Rachel Lindsey, who was 31 at the time of filming. Rachel told Page Six she's not sure if 24 is old enough to be The Bachelorette, saying, "If you’re wanting somebody who’s committed to marriage and a proposal … then you’re going to have to choose older." No offense to Rachel, who was a stunning Bachelorette in her own right, but I don't think age discrimination from anyone is cool, especially when it comes from a fellow Bachelor alum.

Speaking of age, if you look at the 30 men who started out, the majority of Hannah's suitors are older than she is. Refinery29 reported that five contestants are the same age, and one is younger, at 23. The average age in Hannah's crew is 27, a bit younger than the previous average age of 29.

With all the buzz circulating about Hannah's age, it doesn't seem to bother her. During an interview on The Ellen Show, she shrugged off the haters. "I know, whatever. I'm so ready. I know I'm young but I would not have gone on this show if I hadn't really thought about what was at the end of this."

If you tuned into Colton's season of The Bachelor, you witnessed the reasons why some are skeptical about Hannah's readiness for a lifelong commitment. Though she wasn't shy about taking risks, meeting his folks, and saying she was falling for him, there were other moments that painted her in a somewhat immature light. She didn't get the nickname "Hannah Beast" for nothing. Funny enough, it's former arch-rival, Caelynn, who came to Hannah's defense during the Women Tell All special saying, "no one can say if another woman is ready for a proposal or not. What we can say is that Hannah B. is not giving up on finding "fierce love."

"Alabama Hannah" might be the youngest to hand out roses on The Bachelorette, but that doesn't mean she's not in it for the long haul. She's raw, she's real, and she's honest about what she wants in life, and in a relationship. If anything, I think she'd be the one to step up and say "this isn't for me," if she felt her young age were a factor. So far, that's not happening.