Some positive changes may be in store for The Bachelorette. At the winter TCA winter press tour, ABC’s entertainment president Paul Lee said the next bachelorette could be more diverse.
For the past 12 years, the reality series has never featured a bachelorette of color.
Speaking at the TCAs, Lee said, “I’d be very surprised if The Bachelorette in the summer isn’t diverse.”
The question comes after repeated criticism of the ABC reality show for casting mostly white bachelorettes and contestants. The only non-white lead they’ve cast is Juan Pablo Galavis, who was chosen as The Bachelor for season 18 of the show.
Previously, a class action lawsuit was filed against the producers of The Bachelor for their apparent racial discrimination in casting. The lawsuit was later dismissed on First Amendment grounds.
And only last month, we reported that UnREAL, Lifetime’s original scripted series about the production of Bachelor-like show, was casting non-white contestants in direct contrast to ABC’s reality series.
Lee said The Bachelor and The Bachelorette would be making many “tweaks” in the future:
We had a Latino bachelor, obviously. We’re doing a whole lot of tweaks. Because we have the farm team, right, which allows us to then pick the next one.”
The farm team refers to the series’ pool of contestants they’ve pull from since 2009.
The premiere date for season 12 of The Bachelorette has yet to be announced.
What do you think? Is it about time The Bachelorette cast a woman of color? Why do you think it’s taken this long?
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