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Caila Quinn Blindsided By ‘Bachelorette’ Diss, Fans React

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 00:09 PST, Mar 15, 2016

Caila Quinn is not the next Bachelorette. After weeks of rumors that the 24-year-old daughter of Step 2 CEO Chris Quinn would headline the next season of ABC’s romance-themed reality show, host Chris Harrison announced that Bachelor runner-up JoJo Fletcher got the gig instead. Caila Quinn had reportedly already taped her Bachelorette opening package and was considered to be a done deal for the starring role, but producers clearly had a change of heart at the last minute.

Earlier this month, Caila Quinn was spotted with a camera crew in her hometown of Hudson, Ohio, fueling speculation that she was taping her opening for The Bachelorette. According to TMZ, Caila posed in a gazebo and even visited her alma mater, Western Reserve Academy, during the shoot. In addition, onlookers caught on tape were required to sign releases to appear on television, so Quinn was definitely filming something for a TV show.

So, what went wrong? According to Us Weekly, negative fan reaction may be the reason why Caila was passed over for The Bachelorette. After spoiler sites reported that Caila Quinn would be the next star of the franchise, some fans took to social media to complain that the 24-year-old software sales rep would be a boring Bachelorette star.

Unfortunately, by dumping Caila Quinn, ABC has gone back on Paul Lee’s prediction that the next season of The Bachelorette would be more diverse. In January, the ABC Entertainment boss told Entertainment Weekly that he would be “very surprised” if the next season of The Bachelorette wasn’t “diverse.” Lee didn’t specify if he was referring to the race of the future Bachelorette star when he made his comment about diversity, but it was definitely assumed, especially since the franchise has been under fire for its almost all-white cast. In addition to Caila, there was even buzz that Jubilee Sharpe, a Haiti native and military veteran dumped by Ben Higgins earlier in the season, might headline the next season of the reality dating show.

Indeed, diversity — or lack thereof — has been a big a problem for the ABC franchise. In 31 combined seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, there has been one Latino Bachelor (Juan Pablo Galavis). In addition, The Bachelorette has only featured white women on its cast. Caila Quinn is half Filipino and half German/Irish/Swiss, according to her ABC bio, so she would have solved ABC’s diversity problem.

And it’s not like she wasn’t game for the high-profile gig. In an interview with E! News, Caila said she was open to being the next Bachelorette star after having her heart broken on Ben Higgins’ season of the show.

“I’m ready for love. I’m ready for the one and for my best friend and I’m still looking for that.”

After the announcement of Jo Jo Fletcher’s role as the new Bachelorette was made during Monday’s After the Final Rose live special, some fans expressed sympathy for Caila Quinn, whose heart was crushed by Huggins after she spent the night with him in a fantasy suite in Jamaica.

But other fans were happy Caila didn’t get the job.

As for Caila, she hasn’t yet officially commented on her Bachelorette diss, but the morning after the After the Final Rose announcement, she did post a photo of herself toasting Jo Jo Fletcher, with Ben Higgins’ final pick and new fiancee Lauren Bushnell smiling in the background. Caila Quinn also teased that her own journey for love is “just beginning.”

What do you think about Caila Quinn not getting the Bachelorette role?

Take a look at this video to see Caila Quinn talking about her biggest regret about being cut from The Bachelor.

[Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images]

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