Fans have been wanting to see this happen for years and now the big moment has finally arrived. During Monday night's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the late night host is reportedly going to make the exciting announcement that Rachel Lindsay is the 2017 Bachelorette, making her the first person of color in Bachelor/Bachelorette history. This news is being reported on by multiple sources such as Entertainment Weekly, Us Weekly, and The Hollywood Reporter, so even though nothing has officially been confirmed yet, the odds are looking pretty good this will turn out to be the case. (Update: Kimmel confirmed the news during the show by bringing Rachel out for the big reveal. Woo!)
This also comes as a little bit of a surprise, mainly because Rachel is still a contestant on current season of The Bachelor as one of the six remaining women looking to steal Nick Viall's heart. So it's a pretty big spoiler to know that she's the next Bachelorette since that basically confirms she won't be becoming Mrs. Nick Viall any time soon. But hey, you know what — I'm not even mad about being spoiled because I'm so psyched to think about Rachel finding love on her own terms this time around.
Her chemistry with Nick was undeniable right from the start. In fact, she even received the first impression rose from Nick during the Season 21 premiere. But evidently, they didn't end up having as strong of a spark in the end. So if she was unable to find happiness on The Bachelor, I'm very hopeful she'll be able to during her time on The Bachelorette.
The subject of race has always been a bit of a hot button issue on the series since it largely tends to exclude people of color. UnREAL made a point of highlighting that fact by having their second season center around an attractive black football star, Darius Hill (played by B.J. Britt), who served as the show’s suitor in Everlasting — a fictional parody show that bears a lot of resemblances to The Bachelor. So it's exciting that now life is finally starting to imitate art, and I can't think of a better candidate for the job then Rachel.
She's smart, talented, personable, and exactly the kind of person you'd love to see find their happily ever after. I enjoyed watching Rachel on each and every date (group or one-on-one) that she went on with Nick. So I'm super pumped at the idea of having an entire season dedicated to her. She deserves happiness and now that she's officially our next Bachelorette, we may be able to see that play out before our very eyes. Get ready!
