We’ve always known that going on
The Bachelor or
The Bachelorette is a life-changing experience for those on the show, because on top of scoring the love of their life, the show has a tendency to launch its contestants into Hollywood stardom. But a little detail that we’re just starting to realize now is that, for those watching the show at home, it can be a revelation, especially if the bachelorette is a Black woman.Monday night on
The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons Ever, Chris Harrison video-chatted with two previous
Bachelor contestants, Tayshia Adams from Colton Underwood’s season, and Natasha Parker from Pilot Pete’s season earlier this year. Both of them said that seeing Rachel Lindsay – first as a
Bachelor contestant on Nick Viall’s season, and then later as the
The Bachelorette – altered the way they thought about the power of Black women’s representation, and showed them that perhaps they too could own that spotlight with pride.
“I'm from Orange County, California,” Tayshia chuckled. “Okay? So this is my world, and what I mean by that is, I am very used to being the minority. And so seeing someone on TV have such a strong role and identify with me, meant so much.”She continued, “It was really cool to see that Nick was so open to meeting her family. He just really took her hometown by storm and really made her feel comfortable.”[video_embed id='-1']RELATED: Artist Benny Bing's portraits celebrate black icons[/video_embed]Tayshia, who is apparently set
to take over mid-way through Clare Crawley’s season later this autumn, also said that Rachel’s turn as
The Bachelorette was so encouraging; it inspired her to try out for the show. “I feel like she was so true and authentic to herself, and at the end of the day, she got her person,” she gushed. “She is happily married now, and she got her fairy tale ending, and that's what I wanted. So she gave us hope.”Natasha also echoed Tayshia’s sentiments by admitting that there were so many shows when she was growing up that didn’t offer her the chance to see herself reflected on screen, and so she felt excluded by a lot of popular culture.“If Rachel Lindsay wasn't the
Bachelorette, I don't know if I would have went on the show,” she admitted, “just because of the representation of Black women and people of colour, you know? Growing up, shows that are super popular-- I'll just say-- like
Friends, I never watched that show 'cause there was not a big representation of me on the show. I watched
Fresh Prince, and I watched
Martin. I watched the shows that people looked like me.”“So having her go on
The Bachelorette,” Natasha continued, “and she had success. She found her man. It was a huge inspiration to see her do this, and she's one of the bigger reasons why I was comfortable to go on the show.”Natasha also noted that the next
Bachelor, Matt James, will also be the first Black Bachelor and signified how important this is, and for viewers to truly embrace him. “As we all know, we're in a really special time right now for Black voices to be amplified and people of colour's voices to be amplified. And I think that people need to have an open mind.”Tayshia dovetailed off of that sentiment, showing her support for Matt James and calling his personality “magnetic.”“He's the first Black Bachelor, but Black culture is American culture. Just like Rachel Lindsay's season wasn't so different than everybody's else's!” Natasha said. “I'm excited for him. I'm excited for him to find his person, find his boo, find his bae. That's just a call to action for people of colour to come out and show up and watch the show and root for him.”It would be reasonable to speculate that this interview with Natasha and Tayshia was filmed before news broke that Clare Crawley
has apparently left the filming of her
Bachelorette season and Tayshia took over mid-season. According to reports, Clare was already enamoured with one of the contestants before filming even began, and when producers caught wind of the affair, Clare decided to leave and Tayshia was chosen to replace her.The Clare/Tayshia season was supposed to start filming in March, but production was ground to a halt due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Production on the 16
th season of
The Bachelorette started up again mid-summer in an isolated area in California to ensure everyone’s safety, and
they recently finished filming.[video_embed id='1968092']BEFORE YOU GO: How to buy jeans online and get the most flattering fit every time [/video_embed]
