ABC’s most recent season of the hit tv show The Bachelor has ended as of March 25, 2024. Here’s everything you need to know about the finale, the next Bachelorette pick, and the backlash facing Bachelor Nation.
In the finale of The Bachelor, current bachelor pick, Pennsylvania-born tennis pro, Joey Graziadei, proposed to contestant Kelsey Anderson after runner-up Daisy Kent left the show of her own accord. Graziadei and Anderson have since maintained their relationship after filming for the show ended- and they are still engaged. The couple plan to move to New York City, NY together after spending some time in Kelsey Anderson’s hometown of New Orleans, LA.
The couple was also candid about their planned long engagement and time spent in couple’s counseling. In an interview for People Magazine, Graziadei stated that therapy, “made a huge difference for us to not only be able to find better ways to communicate but also learn how each of us communicate differently.”
In keeping up with the season’s runner up, an accountant executive and social media influencer from Minnesota, Daisy Kent, it turns out that she’s doing just fine on her own. After a self-imposed exit from the season, Kent also turned down the opportunity to be the next Bachelorette. In an episode of Nick Viall’s podcast, The Viall Files, Kent revealed that she was worried about her health, losing sleep, and hurting someone if she’d become the next Bachelorette.
In her time after the end of filming The Bachelor, Kent started her own non-profit organization, Hear Your Heart, that strives to raise money for research into hearing loss as well as help families with the costs of hearing devices. She is also the author of a brand-new children’s book title, Daisy Doo: All The Sounds She Knew.
As for who will be the new pick for the next season of The Bachelorette, 26-year-old, physician’s assistant Jenn Tran has been selected for the role. She will also be the show’s first Asian-American lead. However, many watchers of the show have taken issue with this choice and have been publicly dissing the show and Tran herself.
There has also been an issue with watchers of the show confusing Jenn Tran with another former contestant on this season of The Bachelor, Lea Cayanan, who also happens to be another Asian woman. Even the official Instagram account for The Bachelor tagged Cayanan in a photo of Jenn Tran announcing her as the next Bachelorette. In an US Weekly article, Tran addressed this incident by saying, “This is why Asian representation on TV is so important. The lack of exposure directly correlates to the ignorance…it is disheartening to see how many news articles about me have used pictures of other Asian women who clearly do not look like me. Let’s continue to take accountability, learn from others and lead with love always.”
However, this incident with Tran is not an isolated case, as another former Asian-American contestant on this season, 26 year old, ICU nurse from Honolulu, HI, Rachel Nance faced a lot of online discrimination following her exit this season. Nance was called racial slurs online multiple times in her private messages and in comment sections across social media platforms. She’s publicly addressed the hate in this season’s “Women Tell All” episode, but that did not erase the damage that was done.
The reality of the matter is that The Bachelor and the other programs tied to Bachelor nation showcase predominantly white contestants. Whenever there is a person of color deemed the next lead, there is always backlash that follows, partly by the viewers of the show who find a problem with the growing attempts at diversity from the program. However, I feel that Bachelor nation executives have failed to protect the contestants who have been the victims of this racism.
Sadly, I don’t think there’s much that the Bachelor showrunners could do to stop hate coming in to their contestants after their time on the show, but they could absolutely keep addressing the effects of these comments.
I understand that Bachelor nation as a string of programs is making room for people of color; however, when they, themselves, are making huge public mistakes like mistaking Asian contestants for each other in their own posts, it feels to me that they aren’t trying very hard. I also have noticed there are almost never as many contestants of color as white contestants per season. I think that a crucial next step for Bachelor nation is to focus on treating all of their contestants with the same amount of screen time and to make sure they are accurately checking themselves when addressing contestants.