Catherine Giudici Lowe Admits She Thought She Was Cast On ‘The Bachelor’ To ‘Check A Box’ As A Person Of Color

Catherine Giudici says she believes she was chosen to compete for Sean Lowe’s heart on The Bachelor so producers could “check a box” by casting a person of color.

In a new post to Instagram, Catherine shared a photo of the first time she met her future husband at The Bachelor mansion back in 2012, as well as two other photos that showed The Bachelor star posing with his 26 contestants, with only a handful of them being women of color.

In the caption to the throwback pic, Catherine admitted that she was flattered when she was originally cast on the ABC dating show, but that she also realized that she was likely chosen because she is Filipino. The 34-year-old graphic designer added that she initially counted herself out to be in the running to be Sean’s future fiancée because she made assumptions about what type of women he would like.

Catherine wrote that she became more “present” with the process as Sean started noticing her for who she really was. She also revealed that she found “so much more’ than she ever thought she would as she represented a mixed-race community and found both love and Christ in the process.

Catherine ended her message by telling her 1.4 million followers that they should never count themselves out because they are destined to do bigger things than “just check a box.”

In comments to the post, Bachelor fans thanked Catherine for sharing her story and for representing women of color on the ABC reality show.

“You’re the reason I started watching The Bachelor because there was finally Asian representation,” one fan wrote to Catherine. “So happy that you guys ended up becoming my all-time favorite Bachelor couple with the beautiful family you’ve created,” the fan added.

“It was amazing for me, a mixed-race Chinese-Irish girl, to watch you (a GORGEOUS mixed-race Filipino) on this show,” another wrote. “You were definitely the first representation I’d ever seen on a mainstream show like this. Thank you.”

“Beautifully said!” a third fan wrote. “I hope [The Bachelor] makes casting people with diverse backgrounds a priority so stories like yours can continue to be shared!”

Fans of the show know that Catherine did indeed receive Sean’s final rose on Season 17 of The Bachelor. The two wed in a televised ceremony in 2014 and are now parents to Samuel 3, Isaiah, 2, and Mia, 5 months.

Catherine’ s story comes as The Bachelor franchise continues to be under fire for its lack of diversity. Last week, Rachel Lindsay, the only black lead on more than 40 combined seasons of the ABC dating empire, said she’s now embarrassed to be affiliated with the franchise due to its diversity problem. She also slammed producers for failing to cast a black Bachelor.