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Jenn Tran, star of The Bachelorette Season 21 (premiering Monday, July 8 on ABC), says that it is “unfortunate” that there weren’t more Asian men among her 25 suitors.
Tran, a 26-year-old of Vietnamese descent who is currently studying to become a physician assistant, first joined Bachelor Nation as a contender on Joey Graziadei’s season of The Bachelor, which wrapped in March. The night that finale aired, it was officially announced that Tran would be ABC’s next Bachelorette.
On June 3, ABC revealed the list of 25 men who would be vying for roses from Jenn, and precious few are Asian like her. (One of the men, Thomas N., a retirement adviser from Georgia, is also Vietnamese; at least one other, by some unconfirmed accounts, is part Korean.)
Asked in a Glamour.com Q&A if she wished more of her on-screen dating pool “came from the same culture and background” as her, Tran said yes, adding: “I can’t really speak to the casting process and the decisions that were made, but it is unfortunate that there weren’t a lot of Asian men this season.”
On reality-TV dating shows such as The Bachelorette and The Bachelor, “Asian men haven’t always seen themselves in this position, and I am hoping that me being here and Thomas N. being there, that the both of us can inspire other Asian men to realize that they can do this too if they want. They can be in this position as well. I’m hoping that it inspires them.”
Bachelorette EP Bennet Graebner, as part of a recent, larger Los Angeles Times piece on Bachelor Nation’s long-running issues with race, said of the parcity of Asian suitors, “That’s on us. We didn’t do what we needed to do.
“Our hope is that [Asian men] will see Jenn and realize this is a safe space,” Graebner added. “We’re not saying it will solve and fix everything. But it is a step.”
Lol, Her comment is offensive to all the men of different races on the show to begin with but 100% if a white female bachelorette said “it’s a shame there weren’t more white men to choose from” (because they can relate to them better) there would be an uproar, absolute hypocrisy.
Except a white women would never have that problem. It’s absolutely outrageous and embarrassing that the majority of male contestants aren’t her ethnicity.
Doesn’t matter. The point is she could never say it; it is a double standard. By the way, I think you meant race and not ethnicity.
Why? Because Asians must be with Asians??!!
I’m assuming you’re joking. She didn’t sign up for asian bachelorette she signed up for the USA bachelorette show, so if there are let’s say 20 bachelors only 2 need to be asian to account for the the asian population percentage in the USA, this woman is ridiculous and the show EP has no backbone.
Just ruined the franchise for me. She only wants Asian men? Why didn’t she tell them this before she agreed to do the show? It will only get worse.
She said she wish there were more, not “all”. Are you a liar or just dumb?
It’s the same thing wake up, she shouldn’t have opened her mouth about it and it’s not right she gets a pass to do so she should be kicked from the show.
Its bbq day tomorrow, you need to take off your tin foil hat and use it to wrap some ribs and chill the F out. She can say what she wants to say, if she wants a more diverse dating pool that’s her choice. Tv has wall to wall white people on every channel all the time, you’ll be ok seeing something different for an hour a week. You’re like a toddler who will only eat chicken nuggets, bland boring and basic, and probably bad built and bleach blonde to boot.
You know what is a real shame? That there isn’t more active LGBTQIA+ representation on the Show at a time when such representation matters the most. You are all about Diversity and Inclusion and all that? PROVE IT!
It seems clear the Bachelor production team could use some additional diverse voices to help guide their approach. If they already have those voices they should start listening to them. Saying “We didn’t do what we needed to do” is a cop out when they had multiple seasons with Black leads to learn from and improve their approach.
They’re still claiming that they wish they had done better by Matt James. For a franchise that keeps saying they should have done better, why haven’t they? Now they’re saying it with Jenn’s upcoming season. How many at-bats should they get?