The Bachelor franchise is heading in the direction of change.
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Although Season 18 of The Bachelor starred a Latino, Juan Pablo Galavis, the franchise has never had a man of color cast in the leading role. Likewise, ABC's The Bachelorette has never had a black woman hand out roses.
So when asked why that's the case, Lee told reporters at the TCA in Pasadena, CA, "Yeah, yeah, we're doing a whole lot of tweaks," according to Entertainment Weekly.
"We had a Latino Bachelor, obviously. We're doing a whole lot of tweaks. We have The Farm Team, right? Which allows us to pick the next one. But I'd be very surprised if The Bachelorette in the summer wasn't diverse."
"The Farm Team" refers to producers casting male or female leads for the franchise among a prior season's batch of suitors. The Bachelorette will be heading into its twelfth season this summer.
"Perhaps I shouldn't have said that," Lee continued, "but I think that's likely to happen. I think the tweaks that [show creator] Mike Fleiss have put in place will get us where we want to go."
The Bachelor franchise has come under scrutiny for years now due to its lack of diversity in casting. The network even faced a lawsuit for alleged racial discrimination in 2012.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
