2009–2018: Pageantry Brown began her pageantry career at age 15, competing in local Alabama teen pageants. As a teenager, she had placed first runner-up in
Miss Alabama's Outstanding Teen 2010 and second runner-up in
Miss Alabama Teen USA 2011. Brown later competed in
Miss Alabama 2013, representing Tuscaloosa, however she did not place in the competition. After a brief hiatus from pageantry, Brown returned to compete in
Miss Alabama USA 2017, but did not place in the competition. She returned the following year, representing West Alabama, and was crowned Miss Alabama USA 2018. As Miss Alabama USA 2018, Brown was given the opportunity to represent Alabama at the
Miss USA 2018 competition, held in
Shreveport, Louisiana. While at Miss USA, Brown was roommates with future
The Bachelor castmate
Caelynn Miller-Keyes, who had been crowned
Miss North Carolina USA 2018. For the pageant, Brown adopted a platform of
mental health awareness, as she had previously suffered from
anxiety and
depression which caused her to leave pageantry for several years.
2018–2020: The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Dancing with the Stars contestants Brown,
Hannah Godwin,
Demi Burnett, celebrate Brown's birthday in 2019|172x172px In 2018, Brown was cast in
season 23 of
The Bachelor, starring former professional football player
Colton Underwood. Filming for the season took place throughout fall 2018, and Brown was later revealed by
ABC to be a contestant on December 6, 2018. Brown went on to place seventh in the competition, being eliminated by Underwood during the episode airing February 18, 2019, and filmed in
Denver, Colorado. During the second part of the season finale, aired on March 12, 2019, Brown was announced by host
Chris Harrison as the lead for the upcoming
fifteenth season of
The Bachelorette. Brown is the first Bachelorette cast to not have placed in the top four of a season of
The Bachelor. In the season finale of
The Bachelorette, Brown chose Jed Wyatt as her fiancé, although they later broke up after filming after it emerged through
People that Wyatt had been in a relationship with another woman prior to and during his stint on the show. Brown later asked runner-up
Tyler Cameron out on a date during the finale, although their relationship did not progress. On November 10, 2019, Brown won "The Competition Contestant of 2019" at the
45th People's Choice Awards for her time as lead on
The Bachelorette. In August 2019, Brown was announced as one of the celebrities to compete on
season 28 of
Dancing with the Stars. Her appearance makes her the second woman in the show's history to participate from
The Bachelorette, following
Trista Sutter in the
first season. She was partnered with professional dancer
Alan Bersten during her tenure on the show. In the finale, which aired on November 25, Brown and Bersten were announced as the winners.
Dancing with the Stars (season 28 performances) 71 Score given by guest judge
Leah Remini. 2 Score given by guest judge
Joey Fatone.
2021–present: Books On November 11, 2021, her
memoir titled ''God Bless This Mess: Learning to Live and Love Through Life's Best (and Worst) Moments
was published by HarperCollins. The book debuted at number 13 on The New York Times'' best seller list in the Hardcover Nonfiction section. She released "a companion journal" to her memoir called
God Bless This Messy Journal: A Guide to Embracing the Beautiful, Messy You, published on April 12, 2022. It included quotes, photos, excerpts from Brown's personal journals,
Bible verses and lyrics. In September 2023,
Variety reported that Brown signed a two-book deal with
Grand Central Publishing's imprint Forever. Brown's first
romance novel written with Emily Larrabee,
Mistakes We Never Made was published on May 7, 2024 and her second book scheduled for summer 2025. Brown described the book and main character Emma by saying: "Emma is not fully me, but she is a part of me. There's a core group of best friends in this book, and that's really where it all started for me. I think some of the best love stories in our life can be those that we have with our friends. And that's a real big foundation in this book that I hope that people really can see." The book debuted at number 15 on
The New York Times Best Seller list on May 26, 2024. == Personal life ==