The Untold Truth Of The Bachelorette's Mike Johnson

The Bachelorette's Mike Johnson is definitely one of the biggest names to come out of Bachelor Nation in 2019. Fans fell in love with him over his time on The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise, so it caused quite the stir when he was not named the next Bachelor. Johnson, for his part, has been nothing but poised and humble throughout. "It's amazing that people even consider me to be the Bachelor. That's really all I know about it. I'm just grateful," he told Entertainment Weekly in August 2019.

The Bachelor fandom has had its fair share of favorites jettisoned to popularity — like 2018's Grocery Store Joe. However, Johnson had a lot of time on our television screens in the summer of 2019, allowing fans to become more and more attached to him. So, what exactly is it that has caused Bachelor Nation to fall for this man? It's time to dig in. Here is the untold truth of The Bachelorette's Mike Johnson.

Long before the roses and the date cards, The Bachelorette's Mike Johnson was a military man. Johnson was in the Air Force as an Airman First Class. While deployed, he traveled around the world, and his The Bachelorette profile on ABC's website notes (via The Hollywood Reporter) that he's been to 30 countries. However, he always made time to try and surprise his family with visits, as shown by a heartwarming clip of him and great-grandma Mimie reuniting after he spent time away. Johnson's sister is also in the armed forces, so the military clearly means something to the Johnson family.

It's interesting to note that had Johnson been chosen as the Bachelor, he would have been the first veteran to lead the show. Perhaps it was his time in the military that led Johnson to be so confident in his interviews following his rise to fame. "I am a leader," Johnson told Entertainment Tonight, "and to be a leader, you are not going to please everybody." 

The Bachelorette's Mike Johnson is very close with his family, and fans shouldn't be surprised. Johnson was introduced in his first episode of The Bachelorette in a clip showing off his close bond with his great-grandma Mimie (via Glamour). How cute! Johnson's Instagram and Twitter are also often updated with pictures of his loved ones, or his "queens," as he calls them.

Johnson spoke with Entertainment Tonight about how he learned to handle the pressures of being a public figure. "Being the first anything, you are going to get scrutinized for every little thing ... but the pressure I really did have was around colorism and racism," he shared, regarding the then-possibility of him becoming the first black Bachelor. "What had helped me get over that is that I have a good a** supporting cast." He explained, "My little sister is amazing and she would cuss someone off in a heartbeat."

It's starting to become a bit of a running joke with fans that all Bachelor franchise contestants are wannabe social media influencers. However, The Bachelorette's Mike Johnson was one of the notable few with a more traditional white-collar job. His ABC profile (via The Hollywood Reporter) labels him as a portfolio manager, a person who's responsible for investment decisions on behalf of clients. Based on his Instagram, he enjoyed the work, as he once wrote, "I truly love helping [people] financially." It certainly doesn't hurt that he can really work a nice suit.

Johnson also co-founded the company Etonnant Fleur, which, according to the company's Twitter, creates, "upscale events that raise funds and awareness for local non-profits and charities." But it doesn't look like the organization has been active since early 2018. However, perhaps a bright side to Johnson not being the Bachelor is that he'll have more time to get back to some of the things he loves, and can continue bettering his community.

As if The Bachelorette's Mike Johnson wasn't already the picture-perfect man you'd introduce your family to, he's also shown that he likes giving back to the community. While he was serving in the military, he volunteered with the Air Force's Breast Cancer Awareness charity, as shown on his LinkedIn page. He's also been a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Johnson spent time volunteering for the San Antonio-based charity 300 Seconds as well.

Johnson, of course, never forgot about his brothers and sisters in the service. In 2018, his company Etonnant Fleur hosted a charity event for the Women Veterans of San Antonio. During a local news interview, Johnson said, "We wanted to ... bring upscale events with a philanthropic cause." His business partner further elaborated that they felt that women veterans were an "under-represented part" of the community. When it comes to Johnson, he has plenty of love to give.

Getting on to The Bachelor or The Bachelorette is not easy — and it's not for everyone. Not only is there the extensive paperwork to fill out, but, according to Amy Kaufman's book Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America's Favorite Guilty Pleasure (via the New York Post), contestants can be submitted to a session with a psychologist, a meeting with a private investigator, and a complete medical examination. This is all after you've already been selected from the crowds of other would-be contestants. So, why would a seemingly well-adjusted man like Mike Johnson join the madness?

It's pretty simple. The Bachelorette's Mike Johnson told Entertainment Weekly, "I literally have not found love in San Antonio where I live right now. My dad told me to try online dating before, but that didn't work. And I had this opportunity." Surely, there are plenty of available women in San Antonio weeping with regret now.

In the early days on The Bachelorette Season 15, The Bachelorette's Mike Johnson won the hearts of viewers. Johnson was definitely close to Bachelorette Hannah Brown, making it to the week before hometown visits. During one of the first group dates on the show, Johnson opened up about something very personal. He sat Brown down and explained that while he was with an ex-girlfriend she suffered a miscarriage in the second trimester. "I wasn't there for her at the time," he explained, adding, "It's just one thing that I could be a better man at."

While Brown didn't end up choosing Johnson, she clearly valued his vulnerability, and she cried heavily while breaking up with him on their final one-on-one date. "This is by far the hardest goodbye I've had to say, and it's because of how good of a human Mike is," Brown sobbed. "Mike deserves to be loved fiercely just as much as I do." Johnson's maturity and charm resonated with viewers, and it was after Brown broke up with him that the big campaign for Johnson as the next Bachelor truly started to gain traction.

It seems that few are immune to the charisma and charm of The Bachelorette's Mike Johnson, as many of his fellow Bachelorette contestants have expressed their admiration for him. "Based off the first impression, I was really intimidated by Mike," Dylan Barbour, fellow Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise contestant, told Glamour. "But after talking to him, he's a great guy, he's a real teddy bear, and he's also strong at the same time. He's intelligent and really in tune with himself, so I hope he's able to have the opportunity to find love." Johnson is also close with Connor Saeli, another Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise star.

The bromance was strongest though with Johnson and Bachelorette finalist Tyler Cameron. The two are pretty open about their friendship on Twitter, and they evidently make time to see each other. Johnson was even cheeky enough to publicly comment on Cameron's reported romance with model Gigi Hadid. "So if we do this [double] date, your shirt stays on. No negotiation," Johnson commented on a shirtless pic of Cameron on Instagram.

The Bachelorette's Mike Johnson wasn't always all charm and smiles while he was on Hannah Brown's season. Johnson clashed with contestant Cam Ayala over the "pity rose" debacle early in the season. Once Ayala was gone, Johnson began to call out the season's villain Luke Parker. After Parker's physical altercation with another contestant, Johnson wasn't afraid to call it like it was. "You are aggressive, you are abnormally violent," Johnson said, adding, "Your character has shown that you are unstable." But Johnson wasn't done. At the "Men Tell All" special, Johnson stated, "I feel that Luke hasn't learned a thing whatsoever. I think that you are a narcissistic, cantankerous misogynist." He continued, "I think that your future wife is going to be a prisoner with you if you don't know how to change."

This attitude wasn't just for the cameras. When a fan accused Johnson of not being "into women of color," Johnson clapped back quickly. "You don't know me so I'm not going to scold you but I do know I don't like you with this ignorant a** statement," he wrote. "I love women of color."

The women in Bachelor in Paradise and those watching at home were swooning when The Bachelorette's Mike Johnson graced television screens on Bachelor in Paradise for its sixth season. Initially, Johnson asked Caelynn Miller-Keyes out on his first date. "I thought she was very bubbly, and I liked the way her lips coiled. I thought that was kind of cute," he told Glamour. Unfortunately, Dean Englert swept Miller-Keyes off her feet with his mustache. Johnson admitted to Entertainment Weekly, "I'm not everyone's cup of tea. I'm 31 years old, I've lived a little bit when it comes to relationships and life, and not everyone's meant for each other. I just hope the best for them."

Johnson would end up being sent home later in the season when his relationship with Sydney Lotuaco ended. Once his departure aired, Johnson tweeted a farewell to Paradise, quoting himself by saying, "I see Dylan & Hannah & I want that forever."

Bachelor Nation fans were likely well aware of the #MikeforBachelor hashtag, which cropped up after Mike Johnson's elimination from The Bachelorette. Mike Fleiss, creator of the show, asked fans on Twitter who they'd like to see as Bachelor, and overwhelmingly Johnson's name kept popping up.

Even former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay voiced her support for Johnson. "I'm a huge proponent for Mike to be the next Bachelor," Lindsay told People. "I say it anytime I get a platform to talk about it. I just feel like they haven't had a person of color ... they never had a black male lead before." She further explained, "I know personally, just from talking to production, it's hard to get a really, really good candidate, but here you are faced with a candidate who is attractive, who is a fan favorite, well-spoken, served for our country, has a good story, loves the women in his family."

Evidently, The Bachelorette's Mike Johnson was in fact a promising candidate as ABC exec Rob Mills told Entertainment Tonight that Johnson was "absolutely in contention to be The Bachelor."

On the Bachelor in Paradise finale, Peter Weber was announced as the next Bachelor, and fans were divided, to say the least. As for The Bachelorette's Mike Johnson, though, he supports Weber. Even before the announcement, he said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, "If I were to choose a Bachelor, it would be Peter." Johnson continued, "I think Peter would be a good Bachelor. I think that he would be a safe Bachelor, meaning that he wouldn't do anything crazy, obnoxious."

Johnson isn't about to let the producers off so easily, though. He told Entertainment Tonight after the announcement, "After 24 Bachelors, a black Bachelor should have been cast." Nevertheless, Johnson is looking forward to the future. "I would one hundred percent have accepted being the Bachelor if they had chosen me," he told Extra, adding, "I think I would have made a really good Bachelor. ... ABC made a great choice with Peter — that's who they decided to go with. I'm a phenomenal man and still am. The point of going on The Bachelorette was to find love, and that opportunity is still there for me."

If nothing else, The Bachelorette's Mike Johnson's time on the Bachelor franchise has shown his sincerity. It's unfortunate that we probably won't get to see his journey to find love on our television screens, but Johnson is serious in his endeavors. He told Glamour in August 2019, "I like core values. I like loyalty, ambition, and women who are feisty. I find that a feisty woman, I'm attracted to for some reason. Even if they get on my nerves, I'm attracted to it still." Describing his ideal woman, Johnson went on, "I look for sexiness. And I look for someone who can teach me something. Say you're a dental hygienist or an astronaut, just teach me something."

Since Johnson struck out on both The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise, it might just be that the franchise is not where Johnson is going to find his one and only.

Even if none of the women in the Bachelor franchise were able to snatch The Bachelorette's Mike Johnson up, that didn't mean that no one else was going to. Singer Demi Lovato took a shine to Johnson after seeing him on The Bachelorette and, in a now-deleted Instagram Story, she gave him a message, saying, "Swing me, kiss me! Boo boo." Lovato later posted on Johnson's Instagram after his elimination, writing, "I'M RIGHT HERE, MIKE, I'M RIGHT HERE, BOO, MY MOM ALREADY LOVES YOU TOO."

Us Weekly asked Johnson about Lovato's posts and he replied, "I'm flirting with her too. Tell her, 'What's up, baby?'" He went on, "I would definitely take her out for an initial date, yeah. One hundred percent not scared about it at all. "I would be like, 'Oh my God! Girl, come here.'" Could this just be social media teasing or could there be something real between the two stars?

After the Bachelor in Paradise finale confirmed that The Bachelorette's Mike Johnson would not be the Bachelor, rumors about him and celeb Demi Lovato got juicier. In September 2019, a source told Entertainment Tonight that Johnson had taken Lovato out on a date, and a second one was reportedly in the cards. The source said, "Everything went well on the date. They had been messaging and then got in touch in real life through Hannah Brown." Lovato and Brown had grown close during Brown's Bachelorette's season, with Lovato even showing up to the show's finale. Another source told E! News, "[Demi] has always had a huge crush on Mike and once they met in person, there was an instant connection." 

When asked about the romance, Johnson told E! News, "I'm just getting to know Demi. I think she's absolutely fantastic and I don't want no pressure on her, no pressure on me, we're just trying to get to know each other." It's hard to say just where things will end up, but it's hardly surprising that a guy like Johnson was able to snag the attention of a superstar.