Getty Images Rachel Lindsay.
Rachel Lindsay was the first Black Bachelorette back in 2017. Lindsay found her happily ever after on the reality television dating show, and married her season pick, Bryan Abasolo, two years later.
Lindsay has been very outspoken about her feelings about the Bachelor franchise, and she has been somewhat of an advocate for the show to bring on additional people of color for lead roles.
On Wednesday afternoon, Lindsay revealed that she may be completely done with the franchise soon.
“Also, @TheRachLindsay is so generous and giving to this franchise. We do not deserve her,” Huffington Post writer Emma Gray tweeted after expressing her disappointment for Bachelor franchise host Chris Harrison.
“My days are numbered,” Lindsay tweeted in response. It’s unclear if Lindsay meant that the franchise would choose to part ways with her, or if she is getting to the point where she is officially ready to walk away. However, fans commented that they do not blame her if she chooses to completely disassociate herself from the show, suggesting her comment was about her leaving on her own accord.
Here’s what you need to know:
Rachel Lindsay Has Distanced Herself From the Franchise
Over the years, Lindsay has distanced herself from the Bachelor franchise due to its lack of inclusion of people of color. Back in June 2020, Lindsay spoke with Us Weekly, and was asked if she would continue to support the franchise if diversity change didn’t happen.
“I can’t. I have to see some type of change. It’s ridiculous. It’s embarrassing. At this point, it’s embarrassing to be affiliated with it,” she told the outlet.
“You continue to perpetuate this type of behavior,” she added, referring to what was going on in the world at the time, “when you’re putting out something that is very white-washed and doesn’t have any type of color in it and you’re not trying to be effective and change that so I think that they have to, at this point, give us a black Bachelor for season 25. You have to. I don’t know how you don’t.”
At the time of that interview, she had been the only person of color to hand out roses. Since that time, the only other person of color to ink a deal for a lead role is Matt James.
Rachel Lindsay Plans to Ask Rachael Kirkconnell About Her Questionable Past Behavior
It’s no secret that Lindsay has been following the Rachael Kirkconnell controversy closely. And it’s something that she is very interested in talking to Kirkconnell about, when she gets the chance. She’s hoping to interview Kirkconnell on an upcoming episode of her podcast (with co-host Becca Kufrin) “Bachelor Happy Hour.”
“There’s no way I’m going to be soft. I can guarantee you I have questions based on what I’ve seen, and I will be asking those questions,” Lindsay told Bustle. “We don’t know how far Rachael makes it. [But] we know that Matt really is into her and told her he’s falling in love with her. [So] the fact that this information is out there, whether it’s true or not, it needs to be addressed for Matt’s sake,” she added.
Lindsay recently sat down for a chat with Chris Harrison when Kirkconnell’s name came up. Lindsay seemed to agree with Harrison on one point in particular — that it’s Kirkconnell responsibility to speak out about her past, not the network’s. Harrison, however, took a lot of heat for the things that he said. Lindsay has not spoken out about her interview with him.
You can read more about that by clicking the link below.
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