Rachel Lindsay warns The Bachelor franchise can't survive with a lack of diversity and dependence on Instagram influencers

Vulture

In an Associated Press interview taped six months ago and published after last night's The Women Tell All special, the former Bachelorette says The Bachelor franchise has suffered from everybody looking the same. "I honestly don’t know how much longer the show can survive in this day and age, just to be honest, because social media spoils so many things,” she said. “So many people come on, no job, no career, never worked a day in their life because they’re going to build it off of being Instagram famous or any other type of social media that you want to insert in there … The girls all look the same way. I think it’s going to be harder for them to find relationships that work. The show is either going to have to change or it’s gonna end.” Lindsay added that The Bachelor franchise needs to reflect the real world. “I would have women of all ages,” she said. “I mean, there has to be a cut-off point, but I’d have women of different shapes, sizes, backgrounds, ethnicities. I would change it completely. I’m hopeful that if enough people continue to speak out that —  I’m not going to be quiet, and I’m probably the only lead that’s bold enough to speak out and say something. But I feel like it’s my responsibility. It’s part of the reason why I said yes to doing the show. Because it gave me an opportunity for the audience to see someone who has never had this position in this franchise before. That is the main reason I said yes to the show, so why am I gonna stop now?”