When the popular reality dating TV show “The Bachelor” returns, the leading man looking for love will be making history.
Matt James will be the first black man to take the lead role, ABC announced Friday.
"It’s an honor," James said Friday during an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America." "I’m just going to lean into myself and how my mom raised me and hopefully when people invite me into their homes on Monday night they’re going to see that I’m not much different from them and they see that diverse love stories are beautiful."
Between “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,” the shows have more than 40 seasons total. In 2017, Rachel Lindsay, a black woman, held the title role of the bachelorette.
James was slated to be a suitor for the upcoming season of “The Bachelorette," but production was cut short due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Now, James will be in the main spotlight whenever the show can resume filming. ABC has not indicated exactly when the show will air, but it will likely be in 2021.
"When filming couldn’t move forward as planned, we were given the benefit of time to get to know Matt and all agreed he would make a perfect Bachelor," ABC President Karey Burke said in a news release. "We know we have a responsibility to make sure the love stories we’re seeing onscreen are representative of the world we live in, and we are proudly in service to our audience. This is just the beginning, and we will continue to take action with regard to diversity issues on this franchise."
Fans of the show have been calling on the franchise to feature a more diverse cast, USA Today reports.
Viewers of the show launched the “Bachelor Diversity Campaign” on social media, which asked the network to cast more BIPOC, which stands for black, indigenous and people of color.
Nationwide people have been calling for racial justice in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a white police officer.
Former “Bachelorette” star Lindsay also spoke out about the show’s lack of diversity on Good Morning America.
“I was hoping, when I came on, to be a trailblazer [and to] increase diversity in the audience that watches it and also who comes on the show and who could potentially be the lead,” she said Friday. “I felt like the franchise had my back in that. But in the last three years, there really haven’t been changes made.”
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