Rachel Lindsay is sharing intimate details about her journey as the first-ever Black lead of “The Bachelorette.”
In an essay for New York Magazine, Lindsay explained how she was a “token” for the popular reality TV show. Lindsay detailed what it was like being the season lead, and she hoped she would change the franchise by representing Black women and fighting for more diversity.
The 36-year-old said she was cast for the role because “on paper, I made sense.”
“I couldn’t be like the Bachelorettes who had come before — somebody who was still living at home with her parents, who had ‘pageant queen’ on her résumé,” she said. “I was a lawyer. My father was a federal judge. I had a squeaky-clean record. I had to be a good Black girl, an exceptional Black girl. I had to be someone the viewer could accept. And I was a token until I made sure I wasn’t. The thing is, the day I went on the show, I didn’t wake up and say, 'You know what? I’m going to start standing up for myself.' I was taught at a very young age to speak up about injustices. It was no different with Bachelor Nation. And I don’t think they ever saw it coming.”
Lindsay criticized the lack of diversity within the franchise and has explained how there have been ongoing problems with sexism and racism.
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She shared that she has became known as “the contestant who was always starting trouble.”
"‘That Rachel Lindsay,’ the one who couldn’t stay quiet, who bites the hand that feeds, Bachelor Nation’s public enemy No. 1,” Lindsay added.
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Since Chris Harrison recently officially stepped down as host of the “Bachelor” franchise, Lindsay said people blame her for the decision.
In an interview with Lindsay, Harrison was accused of defending past racist social media posts from recent “Bachelor” contestant Rachael Kirkconnell.
Photos of Kirkconnell showed her attending a racially insensitive college party in 2018. Harrison has since apologized for defending Kirconnell, admitting, “I am not a perfect person.”
“I wouldn’t say Chris and I were friends, exactly,” Lindsay said. “When you’re the Bachelorette, you’re traveling with him, sitting in hotels and airports. There’s a lot of hurrying up and waiting, and he’s the one you do it with. During my season and after, he became someone who gave me advice on how to navigate the show and the celebrity of it. I called him my fairy godfather. We’d had our highs and lows, but there had been mutual respect until this interview. I felt disrespected, but I maintained my composure because I had to.”
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