The newest star of The Bachelorette, Tayshia Adams, opened up about how fellow Bachelor alum Rachel Lindsay ignited a sense of hope in finding love within The Bachelor franchise. Tayshia first came to Bachelor Nation on Colton Underwood’s season in 2019. The former phlebotomist quickly became the front-runner, charming both Colton and fans throughout her time on the show. Ultimately, Tayshia was sent home after making it to the final two, following Colton’s decision to chase after Cassie Randolph.
The Orange County native didn’t stay out of the spotlight for long as she went on to appear on the following season of Bachelor in Paradise, where she engaged in a romance with quirky Bachelorette alum John Paul Jones. A few weeks after the finale, however, Tayshia revealed the couple broke up six weeks after the season wrapped. Now, Tayshia has been swept up into Bachelor Nation once again as she has been rumored as the new season 16 lead, which was sparked by the abrupt exit of the initial lead, Clare Crawley, after 12 days of filming the new season. Tayshia will become the second Black Bachelorette in the show’s 40-season history, with the first being fan-favorite Rachel Lindsay. Rachel first appeared on Nick Viall’s season but was sent home after the final four. She went on to find love with Bryan Abasolo as the lead on season 13 of The Bachelorette. Since then, Rachel has become an outspoken force advocating for diversity within Bachelor Nation.
The show’s long history of lacking diversity within the cast and crew has seen a reckoning in recent months due to the rise in support for amplifying Black representation across all platforms. On the latest episode of The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons—Ever!, Tayshia, along with Natasha Parker from Peter Weber’s Bachelor season, explained how Rachel’s journey of finding love gave them hope. Natasha said, “I felt like every time I saw Rachel on the screen, she just had just the biggest smile." She continued, “She was always just giving it her all. And I think the fact that she got the first impression rose, it kind of gave her that confidence to really go through this thing and see if this is really her person. I saw that every single time I saw her on-screen."
Tayshia echoed these sentiments and reflected on her journey, “I'm from Orange County, California, OK? So, this is my world.” She described the impact Rachel’s presence had for someone who is used to being a minority in a predominantly white space, "What I mean by that is I am very used to being the minority. And so seeing someone on TV have such a strong role and identify with me, [that] meant so much." Tayshia went on to say Rachel’s journey on the show was a deciding factor for the starlet to start her own, "I think that's what encouraged me to go on it. Because I feel like she was so true and authentic to herself and, at the end of the day, she got her person. She is happily married now, and she got her fairy tale ending, and that's what I wanted. So, she gave us hope."
The Bachelor has a mountain to climb to rectify 18 years of underrepresentation of minorities on the show. In wake of the social justice movements sweeping the nation, they have since cast Tayshia Adams as the new star of The Bachelorette and announced the first Black Bachelor, Matt James, whose highly anticipated season is expected to air in 2021.