Wells Adams Is Right About The Bachelorette, But We Wish He Weren’t

Former Bachelor in Paradise contestant Wells Adams was a guest on Vinny Ventiera's Wrong Reasons podcast yesterday. Naturally, the current season of The Bachelor and who might be tapped to lead the next Bachelorette were all up for discussion. Adams didn’t hold back on who he thought would go all the way, and why. He said, “I think the franchise wants to so badly break out of its cookie-cutter, white-person shell, but I don't think that America will embrace it, sadly enough." And I can’t say I disagree. Let’s look at the franchise’s, and our country’s, recent history. No Black person has ever been the Bachelor or the Bachelorette. After 20 seasons, Rachel was the first Black woman to receive a first impression rose. Despite the fact that it's housed on the same network that airs beacons of TV diversity in the form of Scandal, black-ish, Fresh Off the Boat, and How to Get Away with Murder, the Bachelor franchise seems to be hanging on to the reductive practice of centering white people in its narrative. Adams doesn’t see that changing any time soon. "I think what they're going to do is, it will be misdirection. I think it's going to be… Rachel, and then at the last second, they'll have Corinne.” In other words, The Bachelor has no problem sprinkling a little diversity into its contestant pool, but producers won’t bank on its audience investing in Black love. I guess the unfortunate truth here is that Trump’s America watches TV, too.