Wells Adams Doesn’t Think America Is Ready For A Black Bachelorette Right Now

It's a little premature to be wagering on which of Nick Viall's Bachelor contestants will be named the next Bachelorette, considering that the frontrunners still have a solid chance of actually getting engaged. But here we are. Right now Dallas lawyer Rachel Lindsay is the woman many fans, and former Bachelor Ben Higgins, would like to see following in JoJo Fletcher's footsteps. But one former Bachelorette star thinks that Lindsay may be a long-shot, and here's why: She's a woman of color. Wells Adams, who competed for Fletcher's heart last season, argues that, while Lindsey appears to be the best choice for the show, ABC might hold back on casting a Black woman. Adams addressed the topic in Vinny Ventiera's "Wrong Reasons" podcast yesterday, Us Weekly reports. Adams and fellow former Bachelorette contestant Chase McNary expressed the view that ABC would tease Lindsay as a potential Bachelorette, but ultimately go with someone like "crazy-ass" Corinne Olympios. Both men cited the last-minute switch of Caila Quinn in favor of JoJo Fletcher. Quinn, who competed on Higgins' season, is half-Filipino, though it should also be noted that Fletcher is half-Iranian. "Remember, we all thought it was Caila, and that was exactly what they were trying to do — that was diversity being the forefront," Adams said. "And then they kind of took stock of how America felt about it, they kind of leaked that information, and they realized America wasn't super-pumped about that choice. Regardless of the diversity issue, it might've just been they didn't really love her personality or persona. But when they found out it was JoJo, people were very excited about that. "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," he continued. "And I think what they're going to do is, it will be misdirection. I think it's going to be … Rachel, and then at the last second, they'll have Corinne." McNary suggested that the current political climate might be partly to blame. "[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," he said. "It's the direction they have to go. But then, 'Holy shit, Donald Trump's the president, and Corinne's the Bachelorette? What's the world going to do?'" Not watch? Listen to the podcast below.