Rachel Lindsay Pushes For Better Bachelor Contestant Vetting
Looking Back at Her Bachelorette Season's Racist Suitor, Rachel Lindsay Demands Better Vetting
Rachel Lindsay wants to ensure the Bachelor franchise learns from its past mistakes. Amid ongoing criticism of the predominantly white and heteronormative dating show, the former attorney, who became the first Black Bachelorette in 2017, advocated for more diversity at the leadership level and an improved vetting process in a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live.
"You need a person of colour in the decision room."
Lindsay said she hopes these glaring missteps are addressed before ABC begins filming with Matt James, recently announced as the franchise's first Black Bachelor. "I did have a racist contestant on my season, which is one of the things that I'm fighting for with Matt James — as the first Black Bachelor — for them to do a better job at vetting contestants," Lindsay said, referring to Lee Garrett, who had published a series of racist and sexist tweets prior to competing on the show. She added, "You need a person of colour in the decision room, making decisions, so that doesn't happen to them."
When fellow WWHL guest Cory Booker said he hoped controversial contestants weren't purposefully being included for a storyline, Lindsay replied, "They said they didn't do a good job of vetting out to determine that he was racist or had done racist things in the past, but I would hope in the future that never happens again. It's a storyline that shouldn't happen, and they received a lot of heat from that." Watch the enlightening interview above.
