ABC taps first black 'Bachelorette' in Rachel Lindsay, reports say

For the first time in the 15-year history of "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" franchise, there will be an African-American headlining ABC's eternal quest for love (and reality TV fame), according to news reports. Rachel Lindsay, a 31-year-old...

ENTERTAINMENT
14 February 2017 Tuesday 04:09

ABC taps first black 'Bachelorette' in Rachel Lindsay, reports say

Rachel Lindsay, a 31-year-old Dallas lawyer currently competing for Nick Viall's heart on season 21 of "The Bachelor," has been selected as the next "Bachelorette," the "Bachelor" blogger Reality Steve reported and Variety has confirmed via sources at the show. The formal announcement will come Monday night on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," which means Rachel likely will be ejected during the episode earlier in the evening. (Though many would say that being tapped for "The Bachelorette" is a bigger prize than Nick.)

Compared to some of her cohort this season, Rachel has been poised and fairly drama-free. She was the first African-American contestant on either franchise to get a "first impression rose," and having lasted to the seventh episode, she has made it farther than any other African-American woman on "The Bachelor," a bar set previously at the fifth episode.

Another African-American contestant, NBA dancer Jasmine Goode, a Maplewood native, was ejected last week after jokingly (we hope) threatening to choke Nick out.

The lack of diversity on "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" has dogged the show for years, and was the central storyline -- though poorly unspooled -- on the second season of Lifetime's "Bachelor"-inspired satire "UnReal."

But ABC president Channing Dungey, the first African-American woman to head a broadcast network, told reporters at the summer press tour that she wanted to see more people of color on ABC's flagship franchise, and indeed this season of "The Bachelor" was its most diverse yet, with eight of the initial 30 contestants non-white.

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