Caption
Close
Well, The Bachelor is not known for its transparency, so we'll probably never know for sure. But we can speculate.
The most obvious reason is to better promote Rachel Lindsay. Since she's still on The Bachelor while we know she's going to be the Bachelorette, we can watch her more closely and get better acquainted with her. She has a lower social media profile than previous leads. She has 67k Instagram followers as of press time, about 90k fewer than Raven Gates, who was considered to be the other Bachelorette contender, and 200k fewer than the season's villain Corinne Olympios. Announcing her now will give her a head start on gaining more followers, which will in turn help keep fans engaged until The Bachelorette starts airing in May.
ABC casts the first black Bachelorette
It also gives more time for producers to find potential suitors. Casting for The Bachelorette is currently underway but nearing the end. Creator Mike Fleiss has said that part of the reason why there had never been a black lead is that very few black people apply for the show. Having Rachel on The Bachelor while the public knows she will be the Bachelorette will give more men who may want to date her a chance to see her before the show starts taping in March, especially, as ABC is surely hoping, more black men.
Rachel is obviously happy to date outside her race, since Nick Viall is white. This would not be about her. It's about drawing in black men who never would have considered The Bachelorette before due to the franchise's problematic history with black contestants, but may apply once they see that the beautiful, intelligent and charismatic Rachel Lindsay is the Bachelorette. The show has a better opportunity to have a more racially balanced cast than ever before.
In any case, this is great news for fans of Rachel and a disappointment for folks who wanted Raven.
The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.
Other Links From TVGuide.com
- The Bachelor
- The Bachelorette
- Rachel Lindsay
Well, The Bachelor is not known for its transparency, so we'll probably never know for sure. But we can speculate.
The most obvious reason is to better promote Rachel Lindsay. Since she's still on The Bachelor while we know she's going to be the Bachelorette, we can watch her more closely and get better acquainted with her. She has a lower social media profile than previous leads. She has 67k Instagram followers as of press time, about 90k fewer than Raven Gates, who was considered to be the other Bachelorette contender, and 200k fewer than the season's villain Corinne Olympios. Announcing her now will give her a head start on gaining more followers, which will in turn help keep fans engaged until The Bachelorette starts airing in May.
ABC casts the first black Bachelorette
It also gives more time for producers to find potential suitors. Casting for The Bachelorette is currently underway but nearing the end. Creator Mike Fleiss has said that part of the reason why there had never been a black lead is that very few black people apply for the show. Having Rachel on The Bachelor while the public knows she will be the Bachelorette will give more men who may want to date her a chance to see her before the show starts taping in March, especially, as ABC is surely hoping, more black men.
Rachel is obviously happy to date outside her race, since Nick Viall is white. This would not be about her. It's about drawing in black men who never would have considered The Bachelorette before due to the franchise's problematic history with black contestants, but may apply once they see that the beautiful, intelligent and charismatic Rachel Lindsay is the Bachelorette. The show has a better opportunity to have a more racially balanced cast than ever before.
In any case, this is great news for fans of Rachel and a disappointment for folks who wanted Raven.
The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.
Other Links From TVGuide.com
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
