‘The Bachelorette’ 2017: Will ABC Name Rachel Lindsay Or ‘Bachelor’ Villain?
Candidates over who’ll be The Bachelorette 2017 are already playing out in the minds of fans during Nick Viall’s season of The Bachelor. People are curious to know if Rachel Lindsay will be named as the next Bachelorette. She successfully caught the eye of Nick early on, and rumors suggest that she goes far in the show — a milestone for an African-American contestant in the franchise. Rachel was handed the First Impression rose and has great chemistry with Nick.
Will Rachel Lindsay be named the next Bachelorette for 2017? Two former Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise cast members weighed in on the big question. According to The Hollywood Gossip, Chase McNary and Wells Adam — both from JoJo Fletcher’s season — don’t believe the studio is ready to cast a black woman as The Bachelorette.
Chase and Wells were guests on Vinny Ventiera’s Wrong Reasons podcast and were asked if they think Rachel Lindsay could be the next Bachelorette.
If Rachel Lindsay doesn’t win, make her the Bachelorette. pic.twitter.com/vdL7TObT8h
— Jules (@juliaddaniels) February 1, 2017
Wells said he can’t envision Rachel being cast as the lead mostly because he doesn’t think they’re ready to go there.
“[Producers] want everyone to think, Oh, this black girl is finishing pretty late on’ and they’ve never had a black Bachelorette.”
Wells thinks this season’s Bachelor “villain,” Corrine Olympios could be the one producers go with casting as the lead.
It’s impossible to predict what direction ABC will go in for The Bachelorette 2017. Chase mentioned how producers first chose Caila Quinn before naming JoJo Fletcher at the last minute. The same occurred with Luke Pell getting swiftly replaced by Nick Viall the night before it was announced he was The Bachelor.
Chase worries that network executives are afraid to make a decision in selecting a diverse lead.
Wells says naming Rachel Lindsay as The Bachelorette 2017 is something they “have to go” with because people will think one of two things…
“‘Holy s??t, Donald Trump’s the president, and Corinne’s The Bachelorette? What’s the world going to do?'”
Wells pointed out how everyone thought Caila was going to be the lead before it ultimately went to JoJo. Diversity was the “forefront” of the notion, but it ended up being nothing more than a “tease.” Wells elaborated more on what unfolded in the minds of producers.
“And then they kind of took stock of how America felt about it, they kind of leaked that information, and they realized America wasn’t super-pumped about that choice.
“Regardless of the diversity issue, it might’ve just been they didn’t really love her personality or persona. But when they found out it was JoJo, people were very excited about that.”
It’s revealed in the report that those who are avoiding spoilers about Nick’s season of The Bachelor think Corinne Olympios will win in the end. Spoilers won’t be revealed in this article, but it’s clear to see why they’d think she’ll win since Nick keeps giving her roses in spite of her behavior.
#TheBachelorette @TheRealBigRach vs. @CorinneOly — @cbmcnary talks potential next @BacheloretteABC star: Chase… https://t.co/Q8gXHTeIjX
— Reality TV World (@realitytvworld) February 3, 2017
Rachel Lindsay and Corinne Olympios are two completely different types of women. Rachel has a maturity level not seen in Corinne, which doesn’t seem to matter to Nick at this point in the game. In fact, it’s benefiting Corinne.
ABC president Channing Dungey told reporters last August that wants to begin choosing more diverse leads for The Bachelor franchise. She said she’d “very much like to see some changes there.”
Every season the discussion of diversity for a lead on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette comes up, but it doesn’t amount to much. While the contestants are getting more diverse, the leads are still white. Maybe the network is getting its feet wet in a sense over the diversity issue. When will ABC take the leap and make someone like Rachel Lindsay The Bachelorette 2017? Would fans be as interested?
[Featured Image by ABC Entertainment]
