American reality television franchise The Bachelor has long been criticized for how it handles race. Industry journalists, academics, and critics have condemned the franchise for its lack of racial diversity, its portrayal of people of color, and its contestants' racist behaviors.
Since the franchise's inception in 2002, most of the contestants on its flagship shows The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have been white. People of other races are often eliminated early in each season, and those who remain are normally of mixed white ethnicity or their heritage is downplayed. The first person of color in a leading role was Rachel Lindsay on The Bachelorette 13 (2017). The first male star of color was Matt James on The Bachelor 25 (2021). Juan Pablo Galavis on The Bachelor 18 (2014), a white Venezuelan of European heritage, was promoted as the first "non-Caucasian" lead but this was challenged by critics. The franchise's diversity issues were more evident before a 2012 racial discrimination lawsuit, although it was dismissed.
The Bachelor franchise has endured racism on and off its television programs. In the era of social media, fans have found contestants posting racist messages and photographs online. Longtime host and face of The Bachelor, Chris Harrison, left the franchise in 2021 after defending a white contestant for attending an Antebellum South-themed formal event.
Contestant diversity The Bachelor franchise has been criticized for the lack of racial diversity among its contestants. Contestants of color, particularly Black people, have historically had little representation and are eliminated early in each season. According to a 2016 study by Splinter, 59% of Black contestants leave within the first two weeks. One season is normally 10 weeks. Another 2016 study by Salon found that across the 31 seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette that had aired by the time, only four winners could at least partially claim non-white ancestry. NPR provided a similar figure the same year: of the 19 women who won The Bachelor by 2016, they found that all appeared to be white except one Hispanic American and two biracial Asian–White women. In the same analysis, NPR also found that in the previous seven years, the only women of color who made it into the final few weeks were of mixed Asian-white descent. The Los Angeles Times noted that the franchise lacks in diversity when compared with other American reality shows like Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, The Biggest Loser, and The Amazing Race.
NPR argued that the show uses Hapa (mixed Asian descent) women as a weak effort to diversify. An associated professor of sociology at New York University called Hapa women "white enough to present to the family", while still exotic enough to fill a quota. Academic Rahel Dubrofsky, author of The Surveillance of Women on Reality Television, stated that women who make it far in the show often downplay their heritage. The ethnicities of Hapa women have gone largely unremarked on screen.
In 2011, show creator Mike Fleiss responded to criticism saying "We always want to cast for ethnic diversity, ... It's just that for whatever reason, they don't come forward. I wish they would." Television producer Shawn Ryan denounced Fleiss's comments, saying the practice was indicative of racism and the producers "just don't think America will watch Black Bachelor or root for mixed-race marriage". According to Scott Jeffress, who served as a co-executive producer for the first seven seasons of The Bachelor, they "always had to cast a Black girl or two" as requested from ABC. Jeffress said: "It was very obvious to me that it was token ... They're afraid of losing the audience. It's absurd."
In 2012, two Black men who applied but were denied to appear on the show filed a class-action racial discrimination lawsuit against The Bachelor. The lawsuit was dismissed. The Washington Post noted that the amount of minority contestants increased in seasons following the lawsuit.
The Bachelor 18 (2014) Venezuelan athlete Juan Pablo Galavis was cast in the lead role for The Bachelor 18. The show promoted him as the first "non-Caucasian" bachelor. Because of his Venezuelan heritage – Galavis was born in New York state to Venezuelan parents – some critics recognized him as the first lead of color, but others believed he was still too white. Alex Nogales from the National Hispanic Media Coalition stated that ABC was taking the right steps by casting Galavis, but felt the majority of Latinos in America have darker skin and deserve greater representation. Michelle Herrera Mulligan, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan for Latinas, said she understands people taking issue with him being promoted as the first non-white bachelor. Refinery29 called Galavis "white-passing" The New York Post wrote that he "looks so white he could easily slip into a Mitt Romney family photo".
The Bachelorette 12 (2016) In January 2016, Entertainment Weekly asked ABC executive Paul Lee about the show's lack of a Black lead. Lee stated:
Lee was referring to The Bachelorette 12 which, according to rumors at the time, was planning to star Caila Quinn. Being of a Filipino descent, Quinn would have been the first woman of color to star in the lead role on the show. Us Weekly reported that she was a polarizing choice, with fans voicing their displeasure on social media. After contestant JoJo Fletcher was dumped dramatically near the end of The Bachelor 20, producers made her the star for the upcoming Bachelorette season instead of Quinn. This change also coincidentally came after Paul Lee was ousted from ABC. Fletcher is half-Persian, but this was not promoted by the show. Salon opined that show still has strictures to be "as white-passing as possible" and that stars like Quinn and Fletcher are "expanding, ever so slightly, the bounds of acceptable telegenic whiteness".
The Bachelorette 13 (2017) The first Black person in a starring role across the franchise was Rachel Lindsay on the 13th season of The Bachelorette in 2017. The show experienced a dip in viewership during her season. The season premiere garnered 5.7 million viewers — down 14.2% from the previous year and making it the least popular season premier for the show since 2010. The season received 7.6 million viewers on average, nearly a 10% drop from 8.4 million for Fletcher's season the year prior. Fleiss found the figures disturbing, saying "How else are you going to explain the fact that she's down in the ratings, when — Black or white — she was an unbelievable bachelorette? It revealed something about our fans."
The Bachelorette 16 (2020) Tayshia Adams starred in The Bachelorette 16 after the original star Clare Crawley's departure early in the season. Adams is Black-Latino biracial.
The Bachelor 25 (2021) After the George Floyd protests surrounding Black Lives Matter came to national attention in 2020, fans launched a petition asking the franchise to diversify. In the 18 years and 40 seasons since the franchise's inception, Lindsay had been the only Black lead (The Bachelorette 16 had not aired yet at the time because its production was suspended from the original March 2020 production date due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was not originally planned to star Adams). Lindsay also placed pressure on ABC and threatened to dissociate herself from the series unless it began to tackle diversity issues. Among the problems she noted were a lack of diverse producers, the "problematic storylines" created for people of color, and leads who lacked in interracial dating experience. Following the campaign, ABC announced Matt James as the first Black bachelor for the upcoming 25th season. James was originally to be cast in The Bachelorette 16 featuring Crawley and he dropped out from the original cast after being named as the lead, who is of biracial background, having a black father and white mother. This was hailed by executives as a move in the right direction to reverse the franchise's troubled history with race. ABC Entertainment executive Karey Burke stated: "This is just the beginning and we will continue to take action with regard to diversity issues on this franchise." Another executive, Rob Mills, echoed Burke's sentiments, stating: "I don't want this to look like we're patting ourselves on the back or taking a victory lap. ... We don't want this, in any way, to seem like a cure-all..."
The Bachelorette 18 (2021) Prior to The Bachelor 25 finale, it was intended to have the continuity on the season of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette usually airs annually per television season, but the network ordered this season and the preceding season to air in 2021 and that had never done in The Bachelorette before. Michelle Young starred in The Bachelorette 18 in late 2021. Young is of a biracial background, having a black father and a white mother. During the airing of the season, all of the four finalists (Joe Coleman, Brandon Jones, Rodney Mathews and Nayte Olukoya) are also of a biracial background, having a black father and white mother as well.
The Bachelorette 19 (2022) Ethan Kang, a Korean American advertising executive from Colorado, was the only Asian male cast on season 19 of The Bachelorette. Kang, who dated Rachel Recchia on the show, became the first monoracial Asian male to make it to the top 5, and the first to kiss The Bachelorette onscreen. Prior to Kang's appearance on the show, the most successful Asian male was John Hersey, who was eliminated by Katie Thurston in week 2 on season 17 of The Bachelorette, but dated Thurston for several months after the show. After Kang's elimination, there was a public campaign from fans to make him the first Asian Bachelor. This was endorsed by Simu Liu, the first Asian male Marvel superhero.
The Bachelorette 20 (2023) Charity Lawson, who has been announced as the lead of season 20, is Black. After the announcement, Lawson stated "I can't wait to show little girls that look like me being in a position like this is possible". Three of the final four (Xavier Bonner, Aaron Bryant, and Dotun Olubeko) are of full Black background.
The Bachelorette 21 (2024) Jenn Tran, who is Vietnamese American, who has been announced the lead for The Bachelorette season 21. She is the first lead of Asian ancestry.
The Bachelor 29 (2025) Grant Ellis, who has announced as the star of season 29, is black and is the second African American male lead after Matt James. He is a mix of African American and white ancestry.
Controversies Some journalists noted racist behavior in The Bachelorette 13 in 2017, with Rachel Lindsay in the starring role, the first Black lead. One of the men said "I'm ready to go Black and I'm never going to go back." when introducing himself to Lindsay, and another called her "a girl from the hood". The show also promoted a "battle" between contestants Lee Garrett (white) and Kenny Layne (Black), who Garrett framed as "aggressive". According to The Atlantic, Garrett played the victim and accused others of "playing the race card". The producers pitted Garrett and Layne against each other in a two-on-one date with Lindsay, in which Lindsay eliminated both men from the show. A couple weeks into the show airing, before Garrett was eliminated, fans discovered a tweet from him that read "What's the difference between the NAACP and the KKK? Wait for it...One has the sense of shame to cover their racist ass faces." When pressed about the tweet during a "Men Tell All" segment on the show, Garrett eventually admitted "That tweet was racist, and I denounce it." which received applause from the audience. The network claims they were not aware of the tweets when casting Garrett for the show.