The Bachelorette's newest star Rachel Lindsay is going to be the first leading lady of color, but she anticipates the season will be no different from ones in the past.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I don't feel added pressure," the 31-year-old Dallas attorney said during a Tuesday morning appearance on Good Morning America when asked about being the franchise's first-ever black Bachelorette.
"I'm honored to have this opportunity to represent myself as an African-American woman, and I just hope that people rally behind me like they did in [Nick Viall]'s season the same way I hope they will in my season and just realize that my journey is, I'm just trying to find love."
Lindsay insisted, "Even though I'm an African-American, it's no different from any other Bachelorette."
Lindsay is still in the running for Viall's heart on Season 21 of The Bachelor with hometown dates coming up next week; however, ABC decided to announce Season 13's Bachelorette prematurely on Monday night's broadcast of Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
ADVERTISEMENT
ABC has never cast a black lead in all 21 seasons of The Bachelor and 12 seasons of The Bachelorette over the course of 15 years, so Lindsay will be making history as far as the show is concerned and hopefully solving the franchise's longtime diversity issue.
"The cast members I was on [The Bachelor] season with have been great, giving me congrats, and family and friends have been wonderful too. I'm just glad I don't have to keep it a secret anymore!" Lindsay gushed.
"I'm a skeptical person. I was definitely excited when they asked me to do it, but I was also equally nervous. But when I started to weigh out the pros and cons, I thought, 'This is way too good of an opportunity to turn away.'"
Although Viall clearly doesn't pick and propose to Lindsay at the end of his season, viewers will see the couple enjoy her hometown date in Texas, when Lindsay's mother will ask the Bachelor about his feelings on bi-racial relationships.
"I know my mom, so I am not shocked that my mom asked that," Lindsay admitted. "My sister is married to a white guy, and so, it's nothing new for our family. And she just wanted to make sure Nick was comfortable with it."
ADVERTISEMENT
Lindsay also shared her favorite and least favorite parts of appearing on The Bachelor.
"Least favorite part was living in a house full of women. Yeah. Yeah. Sharing a room with that many women, I mean, I was in a sorority but I haven't done that in years. So that was definitely my least favorite part," Lindsay revealed.
"My favorite part were the surprises. The friends that I made on the show, the relationship that I had with Nick -- I didn't think we would click the way that we did, and I really enjoyed the process that we had making our relationship grow."
Lindsay has a strategy for when she stars on The Bachelorette to hopefully avoid making big mistakes.
"I said this on the show all the time. I just like to keep it 100 and keep it real, so I just figure if I just stay true to myself, then it will be a successful show!" she said on GMA.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski