Diversity has always been a glaring issue for The Bachelor franchise on ABC, as 48 seasons into the reality dating shows — 28 seasons of The Bachelor and 20 of The Bachelorette — only five people of color have been chosen as leads. As Jenn Tran prepares to make history as the first Asian to star on her own season (hitting the 2024 TV schedule on July 8), producers are finally speaking out about the “inexcusable” lack of representation over the past two decades.
Claire Freeland and Bennett Graebner, two of the three executive producers who took over following Mike Fleiss’ exit from the franchise, sat down with the L.A. Times to finally admit that The Bachelor has an embarrassing history when it comes to casting people of color. It’s caused many Bachelor Nation fans to stop watching the reality dating shows, and Graebner acknowledged that, saying:
It’s hard to say out loud, that people of color didn’t see themselves represented, that they did not see The Bachelor franchise as a safe place. We didn’t have a Black lead in this franchise for 15 years, and that’s inexcusable. It created a vicious cycle, and it’s taken a lot of work to get back to a place where we feel at least we’re working for the positive.
Rachel Lindsay was cast as The Bachelorette in 2017, serving as the franchise’s first non-white lead. It wasn’t until 2020 that The Bachelor followed suit, choosing Matt James as its Season 25 star. Even then, however, his love story was overshadowed by a racism scandal involving the eventual winner Rachael Kirkconnell, when photos of her attending an Antebellum-themed fraternity party resurfaced. Bennett Graebner spoke on that as well, saying:
I’m going to be really frank — we let Matt down. That season went wrong on so many levels. We did not protect him as we should have. The finale of that season was the darkest day I’ve had on this franchise. Here was this great Black man, and we should have been celebrating his love story. Instead, what we saw was a man burdened and overwhelmed by issues of racism. It was really sad for me personally.
Going forward, the EPs said the franchise is making it a “priority” to cast another Black Bachelor in the near future, whose season will allegedly correct some of the mistakes made with Matt James.
The Bachelorette has featured slightly more diverse casting in its leads, with Season 20’s Charity Lawson serving as the fourth woman of color to get the gig, following Rachel Lindsay, Tayshia Adams and Michelle Young. However, that doesn’t mean that series has been free of racism.
Season 19 winner Erich Schwer had a photo resurface as that season aired in 2022 that showed him in Blackface, and while he issued a social media apology, the issue was never addressed on the show itself. (The Bachelor Season 27 contestant Greer Blitzer had a similar Blackface scandal in 2023 that was talked about at the “Women Tell All.”)
Most recently, Rachel Nance of The Bachelor Season 28 opened up about the racism she and her family faced after her appearance on the show, and while host Jesse Palmer expressed regret over the situation, he avoided saying the word “racism” and changed the conversation slightly to make it about the social media hate that all of the contestants had received.
Claire Freeland spoke about that to the L.A. Times, saying:
We have reflected on it, and a big blind spot was not naming what it was: racism. That was another missed opportunity for us. Our intention was to bring light toward what Rachel was going through. But we have to do better.
During this same conversation, Bennett Graebner also added:
We’re not always going to get it right. We’re going to make mistakes as we move forward. But we’re not going to shy away from difficult conversations.
The Bachelor’s executive producers finally addressing the show’s lack of diversity does seem to be a step in the right direction, and we’ll have to wait and see what actions follow. In the meantime, tune in to see Jenn Tran’s journey to find love, with The Bachelorette Season 21 premiering at 8 p.m. ET Monday, July 8, on ABC and available to stream the next day with a Hulu subscription.
