January 4 opened with the 25th season of ABC’s ‘The Bachelor’ premiere presenting Matt James the first ever Black Bachelor. Matt James is a friend of Tyler Cameron who was on Hannah Brown’s season of the Bachelorette. James was not ever a contestant or ever was on any season of the franchise thus far but he still was a good fit as fans and contestants are swooning over him.

Chloe Powell, an NDB senior shared her thoughts. “Having the first Black male Bachelor is phenomenal. But I don’t know if I love Matt yet, but it’s great that there’s way more diversity within the show now, even this season with the contestants too there’s a lot more contestants of mixed races,” said Powell.

While there have been contestants of color in the past, both male and female, James is the first ever Black male lead as the Bachelor. There have been two Black female Bachelorettes, Rachel and Tayshia. The first non-white Bachelor was the infamous Juan Pablo Galavis, who is American-Venezuelan, born in America and has a Venezuelan background, who starred in the 18th season. So far there have been Black and non-white contestants but not a Black male lead until now.

There are a few girls on the show who are standing out, one of them is Victoria who has been the one primarily involved in the drama with the other girls. Sarah Trott got a one on one date with Matt which gave an opportunity for viewers to get to know her more and form their opinions. Matt and fans are liking Abigail who got the first kiss after opening up about her hearing impairment.

NDB freshman, Annie Lester, explains “Matt seems like a great guy and I hope he finds someone who he loves,” in response to the show’s current status.

“I think it is important to have representation especially in this show. It’s really nice to see people who love each other regardless of race… I’m hoping Matt ends up with Bri because she is from San Francisco and she is super nice. I also would love to see him with Abigail because she is awesome and also avoids the drama,” Adds Lester.

Matt seems to be a refreshing new type of Bachelor, but there is still a long way to go when it comes to representation and diversity beyond race.

Kaila Woolley, a student at FIDM, the Fashion Institute for Design and Merchandising shared her thoughts on this season of ‘The Bachelor’ and the show having their first Black male lead.

“I think it was about time they had a man of color on the show. When Rachel Lindsay was the first black bachelorette she felt she had a job to represent her race correctly. In my opinion, she held herself with a strong stature and spoke her mind, to this day she still speaks out for the black community injustice,” shared Woolley.

“I was surprised to find Matt James as the nominated bachelor since he was never on the show before… I found that they needed a strong and confident individual that would represent and handle the current issues at hand maturely. Although Mike Johnson would have been a good bachelor, in today’s current state we needed someone a bit more opinionated,” she continued.

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Woolley also reflected on her hopes for the future of the show with representation. “ I would like to see all minorities get a chance in the limelight. The best way to learn about other cultures is to be immersed in their way of life. I would love to see an Asian or Indian Bachelor or Bachelorette… It would also create a unique spin on hometowns and create curiosity amongst ignorant viewers,” shared the big time Bachelor fan.

It took a long time to get here but many fans are happy to finally see the show stepping in the direction of diversity. After over 18 years of seasons of the Bachelor and Bachelorette airing, this big achievement, featuring the first Black male lead, brings viewers into what we hope will be a new era of representation and relatability for people of color.