Without precedent for its history, The Bachelor, ABC’s massively popular reality series, will highlight a black lead.
Matt James, a 28-year-old land dealer, will star in the following season, ABC reported on Friday, after mounting analysis over a lack of diversity.
The show’s nearly two decade history has seen overwhelmingly white casts, with just one black star in its sister spinoff, The Bachelorette, in 2017.
Mr. James called his throwing “a step in the right direction”.
“I don’t think it’s ever the wrong chance to make the best choice,” Mr. James said in an interview with Good Morning America on Friday.
Pressure for the hit dating show to cast a black lead intensified in recent days amid of the continuous racial reckoning in the US, incited by the killing of George Floyd a month ago.
An online petition signed by more than of 86,000 people called the television network to “reflect and respect the racial decent variety of our nation” and cast a Black single guy for its up and coming season, notwithstanding throwing dark, indigenous and people of colour in at least 35% of the contestant roles.
The first and only black star of the Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay, who is presently hitched to the triumphant contender of her season, revealed to Good Morning America that she had wanted to be a “trailblazer” for the franchise, and has been disappointed by the lack of progress since.
“Over the most recent three years there haven’t generally been changes made,” she said.
Since it started in 2002, the establishment has circulated 40 seasons – 24 of the Bachelor, 15 of The Bachelorette – developing a gave fan following and equally dedicated viewership.
Its latest season finale, season 24 of the Bachelor, which disclosed in March, had around 8.5 million viewers.
Mr. James was initially cast as a contestant on the forthcoming season of The Bachelorette featuring Clare Crawley, which was deferred due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“When filming couldn’t push ahead as arranged, we were given the advantage of time to become more acquainted with Matt and all concurred he would make an ideal Bachelor,” Karey Burke, leader of ABC Entertainment, said in a statement.
“We realize we have a duty to ensure the romantic tales we’re seeing onscreen are illustrative of the world we live in,” Ms. Burke said. In 2012, two would-be contestants brought a class-action lawsuit against the show for racial discrimination, arguing its lack of diversity was a conscious effort “to minimize the risk of alienating their majority-white viewership”.
The suit was ultimately dismissed by a judge, who said the show had a right to cast who it wished under the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which covers freedom of speech.
This news is originally posted on BBC.COM