The Truth About The Bachelor's Heather Martin

Nowadays, The Bachelor is at a point where the biggest twist is if there's no twist at all. It's very much expected to see some curveballs thrown in whenever possible. The franchise mixed things up by announcing Matt James as the lead back in June 2020. He's the first Black Bachelor in the show's history. Additionally, he's never actually been on a Bachelor franchise show prior to this. Even before Matt started filming, his season already differentiated itself from others.

Matt met suitors on night one, but, apparently, he's going to have even more women to choose from as the season continues. That's right, there are going to be some additional contestants mixed in after the first night. It's unclear exactly when they'll join the season or how long they'll last, but rumor has it one of the ladies is already a familiar face to The Bachelor fandom. 

In December 2020, Bachelor franchise expert Reality Steve teased, "What girl from a past season shows up as a contestant on Matt's season? I'll tell you in tomorrow's column. Hint: She's from within the last 3 Bachelor seasons, so, Peter, Colton, or Arie's season." While that tweet didn't narrow anything down, he gave in a day later with a big reveal on his website, sharing that the returning contestant is Heather Martin, who originally appeared on Colton Underwood's season as the one who had "never been kissed," per POPSUGAR. Will she get her second kiss from Matt?

As Reality Steve pointed out, Heather Martin is close friends with former Bachelorette lead Hannah Brown. They met as contestants on Colton Underwood's Bachelor season and they've had multiple beachside hangouts ever since. Reality Steve didn't have a ton of details about Heather's arrival on Matt James' season, but he did confirm that she's not there on night one. He guessed that Hannah, who's close friends with Matt via Tyler Cameron, had something to do with Heather pursuing Matt. Apparently, Heather is "literally there only a few hours," most likely under the guise that it would be "unfair to the others." It's unclear if Matt and Heather had met prior to her arrival on his season.

In addition to being a familiar face to many Bachelor viewers, Heather has two look-alike sisters, but she's not actually a twin or triplet. Since her time on Colton's season, Heather became a social media influencer, endorsing razors, clothes, and other products via Instagram. She's also appeared in the music video for Lawson Bates' track "Song For a Girl," which Heather described as something she checked off "the bucket list" (via Instagram).

Some returning contestants fare well, like Nick Viall who was the runner-up on both Andi Dorfman and Kaitlyn Bristowe's seasons. Others don't even make it past the Bachelor mansion driveway, which happened to Chris Bukowski when he tried to get on Andi's season (via ABC News). How will Heather do in comparison?