Rachel Lindsay would make an incredible The Bachelorette star, according to The Bachelor franchise host Chris Harrison.
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As Nick Viall's season of The Bachelor is nearing its end with only six women left in the running for his heart, naturally fans are starting to wonder which lady will eventually become The Bachelorette's thirteenth-season star.
And seemingly for the first time in show history, a black woman -- Lindsay, as long as she doesn't receive Viall's final rose -- may seriously be considered for the leading role.
"She would be incredible," Harrison told Us Weekly of the Dallas attorney, who had a memorable one-on-one date with Viall in New Orleans on Season 21 of the series.
"She's incredibly smart, she's sweet and caring yet strong and independent, obviously wicked smart and a lawyer and very accomplished, has a lot of attributes. That's massively attractive to Nick, and it would be to any guy!"
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Viall's edition of The Bachelor is filled with accomplished, independent women. For instance, recently-eliminated bachelorette Danielle Lombard owns three small businesses, Raven Gates owns and operates a clothing boutique in Arkansas, and Vanessa Grimaldi teaches students with special-education needs.
Harrison therefore told Us this season provides "several great candidates" for producers when it comes to casting the next Bachelorette. The longtime host called the pool of prospects "an embarrassment of riches."
"We can only have one Bachelorette, so whoever we chose, we're not saying they're better than the other women, [but that] they're sincere, it's good TV, it'll be entertaining, they're at the right place in their life -- so many factors go into it," Harrison said.
"And so Rachel will, if she doesn't end up with Nick, will be among many that are overqualified to be the Bachelorette... We would be lucky to have her, as we would with several of these women. She's beautiful, smart, talented."
Viall was a surprising choice for The Bachelor star considering his controversial background on the series as a villain unafraid to talk about sex on TV. As Harrison suggested, producers probably thought he'd make great TV.
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And for that reason, former The Bachelorette suitors Chase McNary and Wells Adams recently opened up during Vinny Ventiera's podcast about how villain Corinne Olympios may end up being the Bachelorette if she doesn't win Viall's heart.
The guys agreed producers will probably lead America to believe someone like Lindsay will be the next Bachelorette and then make a last-minute switch to keep things interesting.
"[Producers] want everyone to think, 'Oh, this black girl is finishing pretty late on' and they've never had a black Bachelorette -- that might be the direction they're going to go," McNary said on the podcast when the topic of diversity was broached.
"It's the direction they have to go. But then, 'Holy sh-t, Donald Trump's the president, and Corinne's the Bachelorette? What's the world going to do?'"
Adams explained, "I think the franchise wants to so badly break out of its cookie-cutter, white-person shell, but I don't think that America will embrace it, sadly enough."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski