Rachel Lindsay doesn’t want producers of ‘The Bachelor’ to ‘put a Band-Aid over the situation’ by casting it’s first Black lead. She told ‘GMA’ that she wants to see ‘producers of color’ and more inclusion across the franchise.
Rachel Lindsay is happy to see a Black man cast as the next lead for the landmark 25th season of The Bachelor, but she wants to see more diversity in front of and behind the cameras moving forward. “I was hoping, when I came on, to be a trailblazer for that, and to increase diversity in the audience that watches it and also who comes on the show and who could potentially be the lead,” Rachel shared with GMA on June 12. While Rachel admitted that it felt like the franchise “had [her] back” at first, she confessed, “in the last three years, there really haven’t been changes made.”
But on June 12, there were signs of change, starting with the major announcement that Matt James would be the next lead of The Bachelor. The 28-year-old real estate agent, non-profit organizer, and pal of Bachelor Nation alum Tyler Cameron was initially slated to appear on Clare Crawley‘s season of The Bachelorette, making his casting even more of a surprise. But even with this small progress, Rachel is holding steadfast to her platform, and asking that executives take more steps toward a more inclusive show.
“I want producers of color,” she said. “I would like for them to cast leads that are interested in dating outside of their race, that aren’t just getting their experience for the first time on national TV. I need the acknowledgement of that, not putting a Band-Aid over the situation and just saying, ‘Here, we’re gonna put this here, are you happy now?’”
Ever since her season of The Bachelorette in 2017, Rachel has been a staunch supporter of casting diverse contestants and calling out the covert racism that can appear on the show. Recently, Rachel had an emotional conversation with fellow Bachelorette alum Becca Kufrin on their podcast Bachelor Happy Hour where they discussed the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement and Rachel’s frustration with the Bachelor franchise not pushing for more racial inclusivity among its leads and cast members.
Matt James [Gregory Pace/Shutterstock]Along with being one of the franchise’s most vocal critics, Rachel has also been one of its major success stories. At the end of her season, Rachel became engaged to her winner, Bryan Abasolo. The couple wed in a beautiful, intimate destination wedding in Cancun on August 24, 2019 — they’ll be celebrating their first anniversary in a matter of months! Rachel shared EXCLUSIVELY with HollywoodLife that, while her activism and platform is crucial to her work, she and Bryan are planning to start a family in the future.
Sourse: hollywoodlife.com
