(ABC/Mitch Haaseth)
Over the years, the usual pick for the star of The Bachelorette is the second runner-up from the previous season of The Bachelor. But, in recent years, production has changed its casting formula a bit. For example, Caila Quinn was reported to be the original pick from Ben Higgins’ season, but last minute, JoJo Fletcher received the honor.
Reality Steve has revealed that Rachel Lindsay has been chosen as the next Bachelorette star, which would make her the first black woman to appear as the lead on the series. Generally, the next star is revealed after The Bachelor season wraps, but Reality Steve reports that Jimmy Kimmel will be revealing the news on his late night talk show tonight. Creator Mike Fleiss has called the announcement “historic” and he posted the below tweet about it yesterday.
We’ve decided to let our friend @jimmykimmel make the historic announcement during tomorrow night’s show. #thebachelor
Fleiss has also posted the below tweets, leading up to the big reveal:
This historic, history-making announcement regarding #thebachelor actually doesn’t involve #thebachelor …
What is a bit strange is that the reveal is coming before Rachel Lindsay is even eliminated on The Bachelor. According to Reality Steve, Lindsay makes it to the final three on the show. Reality Steve’s explanation of this is this:
One, we have our first black lead in the history of the show. And two, we are getting the first “Bachelorette” to be announced while they are still competing on the show. Rachel doesn’t go home for another two weeks. They set this precedent last season when Nick was announced as the “Bachelor” while he was still on BIP and in a “relationship” with Jen … They’ve never named the lead of either the “Bachelor” or “Bachelorette” while they were still competing on the season they were on. So in that aspect, yeah, it’s historic I’d say. Because of spoilers, they’ve changed the game. If spoilers weren’t around, they’d never do this.
So, it looks like Lindsay will be the next Bachelorette, but you’ll have to wait for tonight’s Jimmy Kimmel Live for the official reveal.