How a group of ‘Bachelor’ fans is working to improve the franchise’s diversity

On June 1, 2020, members of the private Bachelor-themed Facebook group, Brett’s Bachelor Buds, started organizing. It had been a week since George Floyd was killed by police, emotions were running high, and people across the country were experiencing a heightened awareness of racial inequality. 

The Facebook group, which formed in March 2020, was meant to act as a fun, positive space for 7,200 fans and counting to connect over their shared love of all things Bachelor, the reality show that’s been running for 18 years and has inspired other popular series including The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise. But after a member named Chloe posted to express her frustration about the lack of diversity within the franchise and a desire to take action, the fandom decided it was time to get serious. Over a series of Facebook Messenger conversations and Zoom calls, the Bachelor Diversity Campaign was created.

“[Chloe] likes to say it was a nap thought. She was just in the middle of her day about to take a nap and sent this message. And quickly a bunch of us jumped on it and were like, ‘We feel the same way as you, let’s do something,'” Sam Halfmann, a member of the campaign, explained during a Zoom call. “We decided to put together a petition that really grew into a campaign, and we decided to do this big launch on the day of The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons – Ever! [which was] airing on June 8.”

When the campaign — which now consists of 14 Bachelor fans across the country who came together through their mutual Facebook group — went public, they launched a website and social media accounts to voice their concerns over the franchise, and outlined a series of 13 anti-racist standards for ABC and Warner Bros. to meet and uphold. The asks, which are detailed in a change.org petition that more than 163,000 fans have signed, range from casting a Black lead in Season 25 of The Bachelor (what ended up becoming Matt James’ season) to issuing “a public statement apologizing for enabling systemic racism within the franchise” through years of problematic comments from producers, poorly vetted contestants, and predominantly white casts. The petition also calls on the franchise to provide “a clear plan for demonstrable anti-racism efforts moving forward,” and encourages supporters to pledge to commit to anti-racism as well.

On June 12, 2020, four days after the campaign launched, the franchise made history by announcing Matt James would be its first Black male lead. The franchise also posted a statement to Instagram saying they “condemn racism, bullying, and hate in all of its forms and have introduced new community guidelines for interacting” on their posts. ABC has not said if the campaign’s actions helped promote these changes, but the Bachelor Diversity Campaign feels they may have helped apply some additional pressure.

“[People working on the show] haven’t been in touch with us. However, some out there have argued that they are aware, just given some of their actions,” Halfmann, a 27-year-old senior marketing manager in Wichita, Kansas, said.

“We like to think they’re very aware of us,” BDC member Rachel Everley explained. “I do think that especially the second [statement] was in response to the push of our campaign.”

The decision to cast Matt James and the statement condemning racism were both seen as signs of hope in the Bachelor community, but the campaign was all too aware given the past two decades that if left unchecked, the popular franchise likely wouldn’t prioritize diversity or fight to facilitate positive, more inclusive change in the form of giving equal air time to people of color and carefully vetting contestants to ensure those who’ve promoted prejudice are not cast. So they felt compelled to take action.

“When we first got that announcement that Matt was going to be cast as the first Black bachelor, you have that moment of ‘We really hope that this isn’t just bread crumbs or lip service — that there’s going to be some concrete signs that things are changing,” BDC member Ariana Arestegui, a 29-year-old law firm administrator in Orange County, California, explained. “I think that’s why it was so important that we created those multiple points. It wasn’t just about casting a Black bachelor. It’s about making sure that there’s more equity in screen time, and that there’s better quality in terms of storylines and conversations” related to important topics including race, equality, mental health, family history, and more.

Since its launch, the Bachelor Diversity Campaign live tweets the two-hour episode each Monday night — not only to celebrate the funny, viral-worthy moments and praise whatever is good, but to call out the bad and reflect on certain aspects of production that need improvement, for instance,  focusing less on the petty drama that’s become a Bachelor staple and giving contestants of color that air time to showcase their experiences and share personal storylines. The Bachelor Data Analyst Twitter account has been tracking contestant’s screen time, and the data from the first six episodes of Matt’s season shows just how much focus drama among white contestants is given.

“It’s kind of like ‘Avengers Assemble.’ Like, OK are we here? Can we do it now? Let’s get this done,” Arestegui said when asked how the group decides what to post. “We just need to continue holding them accountable so that this isn’t a passing phase for them.”

The Bachelor‘s long history of systemic racism

As many members of Bachelor Nation know, the franchise’s history with diversity, systemic racism, and poorly vetted contestants is thornier than the many roses its contestants hand out.

The Bachelor Diversity Campaign detailed a series of particularly abhorrent examples of times the franchise has exhibited or defended problematic behavior in a Twitter thread on Monday, Feb. 16.

The thread highlights racist tweets and brownface social media posts from contestants; heartbreaking accounts from Black women who were cast in seasons with little to no diversity; a former Black casting producer speaking out about how the show returned to casting predominantly white contestants after Lindsay’s season. And then there were the comments made throughout the years from Bachelor creator and producer Mike Fleiss, as well as longtime host and executive producer Chris Harrison: 

In 2011, when asked if fans would ever seen a non-white bachelor or bachelorette, Fleiss said, “We really tried, but sometimes we feel guilty of tokenism. Oh, we have to wedge African-American chicks in there! We always want to cast for ethnic diversity, it’s just that for whatever reason, they don’t come forward. I wish they would.”

In 2018, he noted that ratings were down for Lindsay’s season, the first to feature a Black bachelorette, insinuating that her race may have been to blame. “I found it incredibly disturbing in a Trumpish kind of way,” Fleiss told the New York Times. “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.”

Harrison has made his fair share of jaw-droppingly bad comments on race, too. In a 2015 interview with NPR, after some prickly reflections on Juan Pablo Galavis, who was cast as the franchise’s first Latino lead, Harrison bluntly spoke about the “tricky subject” of diversity related to the show.

“…As soon as you say, ‘race,’ ‘racism,’ ‘ethnicity,’ ‘minorities,’ all of a sudden, everybody is waiting for you to say something politically incorrect and for it to be a scandal,” Harrison said. “And when you’re a white guy, a middle-aged white guy talking about diversity, you’re already five steps behind. You’re already in trouble. Because there’s nothing you can say that’s going to be good, that’s going to go well in that regard.”

Harrison went on to explain his belief that the success of the show mattered more than trying to take a stand on social issues or help pave the way for inclusivity on-screen.

“This is a situation that so many people of color, women of color, have been in before. You’re trying to express yourself, a very valid sentiment, and you’re continuously getting backlash, interjected, and made to seem as though your opinion is not as valid or as grounded as that other person’s.”

“…This is what worries me about speaking about it, honestly: television is a business, like anything else. And what we have to do, we can’t just say, ‘We’re changing the world. We’re going to do whatever it takes to change the world and make a stand on any social issue,'” Harrison continued. “I don’t care, whatever — take race out of it. Save the whales. We’re going to make the entire show about saving the whale or the spotted owl. Well, that’s great. But what happens when our show is off in six months, and you’re not watching it anymore, and now hundreds if not thousands of people are out of a job?”

Earlier this year, when Harrison was asked if he felt the franchise was quick enough to diversify, he said, “There is this amazing culture of change going on. But there’s also this culture of, how can I ruin that?  How can I say, well, you’re not woke enough? What is woke enough for you?”

Most recently, Harrison came under fire for excusing and defending historical racism in an interview with former show alum and the first Black bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay. Harrison spoke on allegations made against Rachael Kirkconnell, a contestant on Matt James’ currently airing season of The Bachelor, who sparked outrage online after photos from 2018 surfaced showing her at an “Old South” plantation-themed college party with a group of women. The 24-year-old contestant has also been accused of bullying and promoting harmful political conspiracy theories in past weeks.

Before Kirkconnell publicly addressed the allegations, Harrison tried — and epically failed — to do some damage control. While repeatedly arguing that Kirkconnell should be given grace since the photos in question were taken several years ago, the 49-year-old host, who noted he’s “not the woke police” said, “Well, Rachel, is it a good look in 2018, or is it not a good look in 2021? Because there’s a big difference. Where is this lens we’re holding up and was this lens available, and were we all looking through it in 2018?”

“It’s not a good look ever, because she’s celebrating the Old South,” Lindsay replied. “If I went to that party what would I represent?”

Arestegui, a BDC member and woman of color, said she had a “very visceral” response when listening to Harrison’s interview with Lindsay. “When Chris would try to speak over her or interject or make a fallacy in reasoning and judgment I would just be like, you can’t outdo the doer,” she said.

“Rachel was so gracious and graceful throughout that entire thing — more than I think she should have been…. But within my own personal experiences as I was putting myself in her shoes, I was like, ‘This is a situation that so many people of color, women of color, have been in before,'” Arestegui continued. “You’re trying to express yourself, a very valid sentiment, and you’re continuously getting backlash, interjected, and made to seem as though your opinion is not as valid or as grounded as that other person’s. I really felt for Rachel, and I think she did a great job there. It is never okay to attempt to gaslight someone.”

There’s power in numbers

In a move I’m not sure any member of Bachelor Nation actually saw coming based on the total and complete lack of accountability exhibited from the franchise in the past, Harrison announced on Saturday that he would be stepping down from his hosting duties “for a period of time.”

Since Harrison and Kirkconnell’s Instagram apologies, the Bachelor Diversity Campaign has been extremely vocal on social media, in shining a spotlight on the franchise’s problematic history, calling for Harrison’s permanent departure, and supporting people of color on the show. 

Dozens of alumni from the franchise (along with the women from Season 25, which is still in the process of airing) also released joint statements supporting Lindsay and denouncing any defense of racism. And fans created a petition calling for Chris Harrison’s permanent removal from the franchise, which has already received more than 40,000 signatures. Many also abstained from live tweeting the last episode in support of viewers of color.

“We have seen both statements from Chris Harrison in the past week, including the news of his stepping aside for a period of time. This is the first step towards accountability. However, we aren’t looking for a short break, but for substantive change and an action plan with demonstrable antiracism efforts,” BDC member Everley said.

“The pushback within Bachelor Nation on the call to remove Chris Harrison is also revealing another reason he should go — because without it, it emboldens others to defend racism as well. Anything less than his removal is quiet acceptance.”  

Since Lindsay was cast as the Bachelorette lead in 2017, she’s served as one of the main voices advocating for the show to embrace people of color, but she’s not alone anymore, and she — along with alum including Tyler Cameron, Kaitlyn Bristowe, Nick Viall, and Ben Higgins — have signed and shared the Bachelor Diversity Campaign’s petition. And in a recent Reddit AMA, when asked what changes she would implement if she became an executive producer of the franchise Lindsay said, “I would basically consult with the Bachelor Diversity Campaign creators. They seem to really get it and be on top of the change the fans want to see in the franchise.”

“I was hoping when I came on to be a trailblazer for that and to increase diversity in the audience that watches it. But in the last three years, there really haven’t been changes made,” Lindsay said in a 2020 interview with GMA. “I want producers of color … I’d like for them to cast leads that are interested in dating outside of their race that aren’t just getting their first-time experience — for the first time — on national TV. I need the acknowledgment of that. Not putting a band-aid over the situation and just saying, ‘Here, we’re going to put this here. Are you happy now?'”

Lindsay also penned a powerful blog post to further flesh out her thoughts on the franchise’s role in perpetuating systemic racism, in which she explains, “I am sad to say that after almost four years in this franchise, we still don’t have the diversity that this show needs, and that our audience deserves… It is a naive expectation to believe that leads will authentically start an interracial relationship for the first time on national television. The sad reality is that people of color become placeholders as the token person of color to add some flavor to the second half of the season.”

Change is possible, and it’s already been embraced

It would be incredibly easy to look at all of these transgressions with disgust and abandon the franchise all together, and no doubt many fans have considered doing just that. But the harder task — the task that the Bachelor Diversity Campaign has embarked upon — is sticking with the show and relentlessly challenging all those who play a hand in casting, creating, and airing the series to facilitate impactful, lasting change.

“We don’t want to [boycott] because we like this show… We want it to be better than it is.” 

“There has been a lot of talk among Bachelor fans about boycotting the show in the past, like ‘We’re done, we’re out, we’re boycotting.’ Not that that thought didn’t initially [cross our minds] in planning, but we don’t want to go that way because we like this show. The thing that brought us together is that we like this crazy show and we don’t want it to go away,” Everley said. “We want it to be better than it is. And so, rather than just boycotting or only specifying a Black bachelor for Season 25, we wanted to outline the things that us as fans are looking for, and how this show can be better very explicitly.”

If you’ve been watching the past three seasons especially, you know firsthand that groundbreaking change is possible in the franchise. James being cast as the first Black bachelor made history, but in 2020 Clare Crawley and Tayshia Adams also served as back to back Latina women leads. Adams’ season featured a number of raw, eye-opening conversations about surviving addiction, suicide, eating disorders, and mental health. And, of course, Adams and contestant Ivan Hall had a crucial and candid discussion about race, Black Lives Matter protests, prison reform, and police brutality, which was aired on prime time television.

“I was watching by myself that evening, and I think my words in the group chat were literally, ‘Did they just say George Floyd?'” Halfmann said. “I was like, ‘You guys, this is a real moment. This is completely topical. It’s exactly what’s going on. And this is a conversation that we never see on The Bachelor. We were seeing a real moment. And that’s what we want to see, the real moments.'”

James’ season also featured Abigail Heringer, the show’s first deaf contestant, whose story BDC member Rachel Everley connected with on a personal level. “Seeing Abigail is really special to me because I’m hard of hearing,” the 39-year-old elementary education worker from Connecticut said. “I don’t have a cochlear implant, but I do have to have captions. I do read people’s lips. That’s how I communicate. So just to see someone who’s like me a little bit… someone who has this type of diversity… It’s just such a humbling moment really.”

If the franchise wants to survive, it needs to listen to the fans

Over the past two decades, the Bachelor franchise has given viewers the chance to watch grand love stories unfold from the comfort of their living rooms. The series are more than capable of offering lighthearted escapism and a silver lining to even the dreariest Mondays. But as society continues to reckon with racism and inherent social and political inequities, fans are demanding those whose actions have harmed contestants and fans of the show, such as Harrison, cut ties. And they want more substance, relatability, and on-screen representation, and less manufactured drama, shallow and incomplete storylines, and limos of contestants so similar in appearance you’d be hard-pressed to tell them apart halfway through your first glass of wine.

“It’s one thing to cast a diverse cast, but it’s not really doing anything if you’re spending all of your time on petty drama from white women. That’s not what we want to see. We want to hear people’s stories and get to know them,” Halfmann said. 

“We want to see real life. We don’t want to see contrived drama. We don’t want to see fights. We want to see real conversations that are happening as people try to choose their partner. That’s why we watch the show,” Everley agreed.

Instead of focusing the majority of an episode on a woman who’s going home, fans would rather see more of what goes into the final love story. When it comes to romantic connections, conversations that may seem mundane for television are, in reality, what help two people develop a strong relationship. On Tayshia Adams’ season, for example, fans were confused and outraged upon learning that Adams sent home contestant Ivan Hall after learning they shared different religious beliefs. Their conversation on religion wasn’t aired, so fans were left to wonder and many expressed a desire for additional transparency.

“They’re really upping the ante with these women and creating all of these stressors for them to try to create that drama, but they don’t need that. They don’t need those shticks and gimmicks. We want to see the man fall in love,” Arestegui said. “Let’s talk [about] filing taxes or something. Where are we going to settle down? How do you feel about Wisconsin? Are you a vegan? There’s so many other things about people that make them unique that arise in regular normal relationships: Religion, socio-economic differences, education, different values, and different ways of growing up.”

“We want to see real life. We don’t want to see contrived drama. We don’t want to see fights. We want to see real conversations that are happening as people try to choose their partner. That’s why we watch the show.”

While watching a heavily edited fairy tale unfold may seem like better TV to producers, what Bachelor Nation really craves from these reality shows is simply more reality: diverse contestants; unedited, topical, sometimes heavy conversations; a team that’s willing to own up to its many past mistakes and not only vow to do better, but show they’re capable of following through on their empty promises.

The sheer premise of the show — one person attempting to find a life partner in a matter of weeks while simultaneously dating 20+ people, all of whom live together — breaks nearly every dating tradition in the book. So why is the show so reluctant to push boundaries as small and sensible as casting a diverse group of contestants that not only includes more people of color, but people with disabilities, people with different religious beliefs, and contestants that represent different age groups and body types? 

The accelerated, unconventional process these contestants use to find love is already pretty forward-thinking, and the decision to properly address and incorporate diversity in the form of better casting and hiring — an omnipresent part of looking for love in the real world — would only make the show more powerful and realistic. Fleeing from that opportunity for inclusion and trying to avoid it, as Harrison and others involved with the show have done multiple times, is both limiting and harmful to viewers and contestants. At the end of the day The Bachelor is a reality TV show, but it’s reality TV that people hold close to their hearts, and it has the potential to grow alongside society and positively address deeper issues.

Now that fans are holding the show accountable, the franchise has reached a crossroads. It either continues to downplay its role in perpetuating systemic racism, brings back Harrison, and fails to show actionable efforts to change, or it starts really listening to what its fans want to see and starts living up to what it can actually be.

Mashable reached out to ABC and Warner Bros. for comment.