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Tayshia Adams has officially been announced as the new Bachelorette for the show’s 16th season. While most of Bachelor Nation rejoices, some can’t help but be skeptical of the producer’s authenticity.
“Kris Jenner works hard, but ABC PR works harder,” says E! News rep in a video interview regarding the recent Bachelorette drama. Clare Crawley, 39, the oldest lead in Bachelor history, found love too quickly and walked out on the show just 12 days into filming, potentially engaged. This left producers scrambling to find a new lead.
Events Leading To Clare’s Departure
Season 16 of The Bachelorette has been a whirlwind and they aren’t even finished filming! First, production was affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Producers hired a bigger cast, 42 men, this season just in case someone got sick, and filming was pushed back. Additionally, while the show usually travels to different countries on their journey to find love, this season has been quarantined at La Quinta resort in Palm Springs, California.
While production was on a brief pause for COVID, Crawley’s first impression rose, Dale Moss, found a way to contact her and they began talking secretly. When filming restarted, the two were already beginning to fall in love and Crawley quickly became disinterested in the other men. She decided to leave the show with her new boo and pass the bachelorette rose to Tayshia Adams, of season 23 of The Bachelor and the most recent season of Bachelor in Paradise.
In a true *dramatic* turn-of-events, Tayshia Adams is set to replace Clare Crawley on #TheBachelorette, and now, Bachelor Nation has shared their thoughts. ???? https://t.co/hx2KwdlRzK pic.twitter.com/vSLPHX7DTH
— E! News (@enews) August 4, 2020
Season 16 of The Bachelorette is still set to air this fall on ABC.
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The Bachelor Franchise And Race
While fans do love Tayshia, some are concerned they only picked her to because she is Black. The Bachelor franchise is not known for their diversity, in fact it is quite the opposite. The show has been on air since 2002. Since it’s been on air, they have only had one Black lead, Rachel Lindsay in 2017, which they did not deal with gracefully, to say the least. However, in light of the Black Lives Matter Movement, The Bachelor seems to feel more equipped to handle conversations about race this time around. Fans were ecstatic about the announcement of Matt James becoming the next Bachelor, and producers clearly took note.
Initial responses about Tayshia taking over as Bachelorette have been very positive.
Tayshia being announced as #TheBachelorette is honestly the best thing ever. Thank ???????? you ????????. pic.twitter.com/yvj5XeCMiL
— K ☕️ (@Finally_Mrs_F) August 3, 2020
Yay! I can’t wait ???? #TheBachelorette @TayshiaAdams https://t.co/2sfuDkE6Wd
— … (@itstyxxx) August 4, 2020
But while some fans are definitely proud that The Bachelor producers are finally becoming more inclusive…
https://twitter.com/aliciaawebb/status/1290750338228781056?s=20
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Others are skeptical and question the authenticity of their bachelorette pick. They believe the show is being influenced by political pressure caused by the Black Lives Matter movement and that perhaps the show felt like they “had to be” diverse at this point.
https://twitter.com/JessicaLake19/status/1290683344288649223?s=20
Fans have been commenting on the show’s lack of diversity for years now. It is only natural to be a little skeptical of the producers that are just now choosing to listen to the voices of their fans on diversity issues within their show. Could they be exploiting race for ratings again like in 2017?
It sounds like they planned this, for Tayshia to be the bachelorette too. I keep thinking, everyone kept saying we want diversity (I agree) so we have an older female (Clare), first AA bachelor (Matt) and our 2nd black female lead. Maybe they figured they should listen to us
— Lisa M Wyatt (@Lisamwyatt2) August 1, 2020
Fortunately, Tayshia is getting a lot of support. The only other Black Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay, said she was “thrilled” to see another Bachelorette of color. Marshana, from season 12 of The Bachelor, shared her happiness to see the show diversifying.
I'm so happy for Tayshia!
As a Bachelor Season 12 contestant, the ONLY person of color on my season, it feels GOOD to see this diversity from @BacheloretteABC #TheBachelorette https://t.co/6noHTqyRe2
— Marshana D. Ritchie (@Marshanadahlia) August 4, 2020
Will Tayshia get the season fans know she deserves? The question remains as to whether she will get her own cast of men, or if she will be having to choose a soulmate from Clare’s rejects. Bachelor Nation will be anxiously waiting to see how the producers handle this season.
