'The Bachelor' to have Matt James as first Black lead in the history of the show

Makers of The Bachelor would be casting the first African American as the show’s lead face. Matt James has been finalised as the first African American man to be the face of the show in the history of the franchise. He will be a milestone as the show would be running its 25th season.

Matt James to be the first black 'Bachelor'

The show makers had reportedly been receiving a lot of criticism for lacking diversity in the show’s cast. The franchise has had numerous seasons over 18 years and has had only one black lead. Rachel Lindsay has been the only African American woman contestant in The Bachelor season 21 and the lead in its spin-off The Bachelorette.

Scrutiny received by the show for lacking diversity

The show is highly rated and enjoys good TRP. Therefore, fans and former contestants of the show urged the show makers to bring more diversity in the cast and undergo a ‘diversity makeover’. Moreover, there was a group called Bachelor Diversity Campaign which launched a petition demanding that the ABC and Warner Bros cast a black lead for season 25 which will premiere in the year 2021.

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The petition received nearly 85,000 signatures. However, there have been reports suggesting that the decision to cast James is not because of the occurrence of recent events. Reportedly, James had been talking with producers for several months.

According to a media portal, he was originally scheduled to be a contestant on Clare Crawley’s season of The Bachelorette. But due to COVID 19 pandemic, the production of that has been placed on indefinite hold. Karey Burke, President of ABC Entertainment told a media portal that Matt has been on their radar since February.

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Burke further said that in February, the producers first approached him to join Bachelor Nation as part of Clare’s season. Karey Burke further revealed that when the show was put on hold, they got the advantage to get to know Matt better and everybody on their team agreed that he would be perfect for The Bachelor.

He further said to a portal that they know they have a responsibility to make sure the love stories they are showing on-screen are representative of the world we live in. Burke feels that he and his team is proud to be in service to the audience. He further said that the production team feels privileged to have Matt as the first black Bachelor and they are thrilled to start the journey with him.

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Image Credits: Matt James Instagram