Rachel Lindsay opens up about feeling exploited on 'Bachelorette'; calls out toxic fandom

Rachel Lindsay grew popular after being on the show The Bachelorette. She recently opened up about the show and how she felt exploited on it. She also called out the toxic fandom of the show. Take a look at what the reality star had to say about the show and its fans. 

Rachel Lindsay opened up about The Bachelorette franchise experience

The 36-year-old former Bachelorette opened up about her time on The Bachelor and Bachelorette while talking to New York Magazine. She recalled how she left the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast last month because she was exhausted from trying to defend herself against a toxic fandom. She stated that her race-related chat with veteran host Chris Harrison, who has since left the franchise, affected the fandom. They always had a problematic relationship with her and turned against her. 

The franchise has spent the last 19 years building a poisonous fan base according to her. They've always given it what it wants: a white, blonde, light-eyed Christian from the Midwest or South. However, she added that not all viewers are like that. The Higher Learning co-host and she had divided it into two groups: Bachelor Nation and Bachelor Klan. Lindsay defined the latter word and said that the Bachelor Klan is a cruel, racist, sexist, xenophobic, and homophobic group. They are terrified of change. They are terrified of feeling uneasy. When they are questioned, they are terrified.

Lindsay, the first Black Bachelorette, remembered her instant reaction to being offered the lead position, which she turned down because she didn't want to lose her identity. She did not want to be known as a reality-TV celebrity. She explained that she didn't want to lose respect at work. However, she decided to be on the show when she spoke to someone and they mentioned that their daughter enjoyed the show. 

Lindsay also mentioned her fear that viewers would look at her as an angry Black female during her time on The Bachelor. She remembered a chat with producers after she stormed out following a disagreement with eventual winner Vanessa Grimaldi. She mentioned that people didn't understand what it's like to be a Black woman in this place full of white people. A white woman cried in her face and even called her a bully.

She also remembers feeling exploited during her Bachelorette Hometown date with Peter Kraus, when she was sent up to meet two black men and two white women who were friends of his. They divided them so that Peter could chat with his homeboys and she could talk to the women, who discussed having mixed babies and what it was like to be an interracial relationship. She felt like she was being taken for granted on the show. 

Image: Rachel Lindsay's Instagram