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‘The Bachelorette’ 2017 Pick, Rachel Lindsay, A Lie? Producer Implies Maybe

By Heather Tooley
Published on: 04:26 PST, Mar 6, 2017

The Bachelorette 2017 pick was officially revealed as Rachel Lindsay in mid-February, who’s expected to be sent home on Monday night’s episode of The Bachelor with Nick Viall. The announcement was made weeks ago, and the series finale of The Bachelor has already been spoiled in part knowing that Rachel won’t be the woman Nick proposes to in the end. Now one of the show’s producers is casting doubt in the mind of fans over how Nick’s season ends — and who will be The Bachelorette.

Rachel Lindsay is the first African-American lead in the franchise. For years, the show has been chastised for not casting a black Bachelor or Bachelorette. 2017 was the year head honchos delivered after hearing the calls for more diversity on the reality show.

On Sunday night, Mike Fleiss tweeted a message to fans that implied maybe Rachel Lindsay won’t be The Bachelorette 2017 lead.

“Maybe we said @TheRachLindsay was the new #TheBachelorette just to throw you off the track… Maybe she wins?,” he wrote.

Some fans weren’t amused by the tweet with some upset that he spoiled his own show by revealing who The Bachelorette 2017 lead will be while she was still on The Bachelor.

“Do you feel that guilty for ruining the show for so many people that you’re going to make up complete BS lies??????,” one asked.

“Yeah ok lol. The backlash you’d get for ditching the 1st ‘diverse’ bachelorette would b horrible 2 I can see,” another wrote.

“Nah you wouldn’t have gone through all of that just to “throw viewers” off. Yeah, no,” someone else replied.

Perhaps Fleiss wanted to tease fans about the possibility that another Nick Viall/Luke Pell incident could unravel as it did for The Bachelor. The night before the 2017 lead was announced, Luke was told plans had changed and that another lead was chosen. Fans were thrown for a loop when Nick was announced as The Bachelor. The move was unprecedented and proved how unpredictable decisions among the show’s brass can be. Every year they find a way to shock fans, but alluding to the possibility that Rachel Lindsay wins Nick’s heart and doesn’t appear as The Bachelorette 2017 lead would rub a lot of people wrong. She’s not just any Bachelorette pick, but the first black lead the show has had. There’s no way they want the backlash that would erupt if that occurred.

Chances are Mike Fleiss wanted to fuel some discussion and get people talking about the show as the finale is just one week away. On the upcoming episode, Nick continues his Fantasy Suite dates with Rachel and Vanessa Grimaldi. According to spoilers released by Reality Steve, Vanessa and Raven Gates are the final two women Nick chooses from. In one week, fans will find out which finalist wins.

Rachel Lindsay told People magazine that she looks forward to being The Bachelorette.

“I’m obviously nervous and excited to take on this opportunity but I don’t feel added pressure being the first black Bachelorette, because to me I’m just a black woman trying to find love. Yes, I’m doing on this huge stage, but again my journey of love isn’t any different just because my skin color is.”

Rachel Lindsay’s season will begin filming very shortly. JoJo Fletcher’s season began on March 11 last year and Rachel’s season is on track to start soon.

The Bachelorette 2017 premieres on ABC in late May.

[Featured Image by Mitch Haaseth/ABC]

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