Former The Bachelorette star Rachel Lindsay is facing a lot of criticism and questions these days as issues of diversity and racism cause chaos within “Bachelor Nation.” Last week, Rachel talked with franchise host Chris Harrison regarding issues related to Matt James’ season of The Bachelor and contestant Rachael Kirkconnell. Now she’s addressing some additional questions.
Just days after the interview on Extra involving Rachel and Chris aired, The Bachelor host said he would be stepping away for a while. He detailed that he would be working diligently on educating himself on issues of racism, and he indicated that he would not be hosting the upcoming “After the Final Rose” special.
Who will host the “AFTR” and what happens with The Bachelorette ? Nobody knows for certain, but E! News did ask Rachel if she’d be open to stepping in to take over Chris’ role.
Prior to this, Rachel did note that she had not intended to see Chris step away. At the same time, it seems she does believe he made the right choice at this point. However, there are plenty of questions regarding where the franchise heads from here.
“I don’t think anybody knows what’s next. I think we are all going to be waiting and seeing,” Rachel detailed.
The Bachelor fans have been quite outspoken about all of this, and not everybody has been supportive of Rachel. In fact, she’s faced a fair amount of backlash with some viewers blaming her for Chris’ temporary departure. Given that, would she be willing to step into the spotlight to take over his duties for now?
“Honestly, I am not even thinking about that. I think the bigger picture is that there is an issue and Chris is recognizing it, other people are recognizing and I think if my message is to really make change and to really create a level of awareness, then I can’t be focused on trying to take somebody else’s job. I am just focused on really us getting to a place of unity where we can all be better,” she explained.
Rachel detailed that she believes real change will only come when people of color are added to key levels of the decision-making process for the show.
There is a lot up in the air at the moment and very few answers regarding what The Bachelor franchise plans to do next. The finale for Matt’s season is slated to air in a few weeks, and typically, The Bachelorette would begin filming right after that. Decisions will need to be made soon, and many will be curious to see how Rachel factors into all of this, if at all.