While former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay has undoubtedly become the mouthpiece for people of color within The Bachelor franchise, yet another alum is speaking out about their experience as a minority on the show.
Catherine Giudici, who won season 17 starring Sean Lowe, took to Instagram over the weekend and opened up about what it felt like to get cast, admitting she felt she was chosen to include more diversity.
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The 34-year-old reality TV star admitted:
“When I was originally cast, I was very flattered but somewhat grounded by the fact that I would be one of the faces that represented people of color. I knew that one of the reasons I was probably chosen was because I was Filipino.”
Catherine went on to explain she “counted myself out to be [Lowe’s] fiancée because of what I assumed Sean liked.” She wasn’t too far off in that assumption either, as producers handpicked mostly white women to date the 36-year-old Texas native during his season in 2012.
“I thought I was there just to check a box. But I ended up with so much more. I became present with the process and as he started noticing me for who I really was, I allowed this experience to open myself up to the possibility of being fully loved and appreciated for all that I was.”
Awww!
Looking back on it all, the starlet feels proud to have represented her mixed heritage; Catherine’s father is of Swiss-Italian and Scottish descent and her mother is Filipino-American. She continued:
“I ended up getting to represent a mixed race community. I found Christ (I LOVE my testimony!) and [married] the most amazing man I’ve ever known.”
She also noted how joining the series was “one of the best things that ever happened to me” and offered some advice to other people of color who might be discouraged to give it a shot:
“Don’t count yourself out. You are destined to do bigger things than just check a box.”
Sean and Catherine are widely regarded as one of the most authentic and compelling couples to make it after the show. They tied the knot in a televised ceremony in 2014 and now share three children together: sons Samuel Thomas Lowe, 3, and Isaiah Hendrix Lowe, 1, and their daughter, 5-month-old Mia Lowe.
This timely reflection comes on the heels of ABC‘s latest TV special, The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons — Ever, which will feature 10 three-hour episodes that look back at the most memorable seasons in the series’ history. The parents-of-three will watch their love story unfold on Monday, June 8, and Guidici shared some throwback pics from that time alongside her post:
While this success story is truly giving us all of the feels, many can agree there’s still more work to be done within the franchise.
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As we touched on earlier, Lindsay — the first and only Black female lead — has been vocal about diversity issues on the dating competition series. While she also found her happy ending with contestant-turned-husband Bryan Abasolo, she admitted it’s “embarrassing” to be associated with them after years of homogenous casting:
“When you’re putting out something that is very whitewashed and doesn’t have any type of color in it and you’re not trying to be effective and change that… I think that they have to at this point, give us a black Bachelor for season 25.”
The coronavirus pandemic forced production on upcoming seasons of The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise to be put on hold indefinitely. Hopefully, producers will use this extended time off to go back to the drawing board and work towards more inclusivity!
Will U be tuning in to the new Bachelor special or any other iterations of the show going forward??
[Image via DJDM/WENN]
The post <i>The Bachelor</i> Alum Catherine Giudici Thought She Got Cast To ‘Check A Box’ Because She’s Filipino appeared first on Perez Hilton.