Entertainment

Rachel Lindsay Revealed She Wants The Next Bachelor To Be This Groundbreaking Fan Fave

by Marenah Dobin
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 16: Rachel Lindsay 
 arrives to the 5th Annual Ties & Tails Gal...
Randy Shropshire/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Aside from being adored as the former lead of The Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay is loved and respected for always keeping it real. With that said, she's not giving any polite or politically correct answers in general, but specifically when it comes to the next Bachelor lead. Rachel Lindsay's choice for the next Bachelor is a groundbreaking one that she is very passionate about.

Rachel did not hold back in an August 6 interview with People. She declared, "I’m a huge proponent for Mike [Johnson] to be the next Bachelor." And this isn't the first time that she has said his name. Rachel shared, "I say it anytime I get a platform to talk about it. I just feel like they haven’t had a person of color, well, they had Juan Pablo [Galavis] — they never had a black male lead before." Rachel, of course, was the first black lead of the franchise, when she stared in Season 13 of The Bachelorette in 2017.

Rachel continued, "I get that in Bachelor Nation, usually people of color don’t fare as well … people relate to who look like them, and the audience — it’s not diverse. That’s just a fact. But I think that it would be a wrong decision to not pick Mike."

John Fleenor/ABC

Rachel even admitted, "I have been shouting to the rooftops. I’ve been talking to executives." Yes, aside from sharing her opinions in interviews and on social media, she's actually talked to Bachelor executives. She truly is passionate about Mike nabbing the lead role.

The Texas native also joked, "And he’s from Texas, for goodness’ sake!" And some of the best Bachelor leads have hailed from Texas. Aside from Rachel, JoJo Fletcher and Sean Lowe are also from Dallas, Texas.

Rachel opened up about her discussions with the Bachelor execs behind the scenes and explained why he is such a solid contender. She told People,

"I know personally, just from talking to production, it’s hard to get a really, really good candidate, but here you are faced with a candidate who is attractive, who is a fan favorite, well-spoken, served for our country, has a good story, loves the women in his family."
John Fleenor/ABC

Yes, Rachel went to the next level by talking to the Bachelor producers. Even ABC exec Rob Mills told Entertainment Tonight that Mike is being considered for the role:

"He’s absolutely in contention to be The Bachelor. … He is just somebody that people really love. He's got a great story. We have somebody who has served our country, has really suffered through heartbreak. … You’ve got a billion dollar smile and he looks great. He's got a following; those are the reasons he's in contention more than, 'Oh, this is so great, we can check that off now.'"

Clearly, Rachel is very invested in this decision. She went the extra mile talking to production. Plus, Rachel knows what it is like to bring some diversity to the franchise as a lead. If Rachel thinks Mike can handle it and he's the best guy to take that on, then he probably is.