Ex-college football player is first black Bachelor
ABC has named its first black Bachelor — a North Carolina native and former Wake Forest University football player.
The naming of Matt James comes earlier than usual, since the show usually names the new Bachelor leading man at the end of the preceding Bachelorette season (and vice versa).
Fans are due a new Bachelorette season, but filming has been delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But ABC says James has been on their radar for a while.
In a release, Karey Burke, president of ABC Entertainment, said producers had met with James to be part of the current Bachelorette season, and with filming delayed, they got to know him more and agreed he’d be right for The Bachelor.
And frankly, it’s time for a black Bachelor.
Before the previous Bachelor season (the Peter Weber season), many fans begged the show to pick Mike Johnson, a.k.a. Big Mike, a favourite from the Hannah Brown season of The Bachelorette.
(Mike instead went on Bachelor in Paradise, another Bachelor franchise spinoff.)
The show has previously had a black Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay.
“We know we have a responsibility to make sure the love stories we’re seeing onscreen are representative of the world we live in, and we are proudly in service to our audience,” Burke said.
“This is just the beginning, and we will continue to take action with regard to diversity issues on this franchise. We feel so privileged to have Matt as our first Black Bachelor and we cannot wait to embark on this journey with him.”
ABC calls James “the total package,” noting strong family values, a good career and a record of giving back to the community.
Local ABC affiliate ABC11 wrote about James last year, profiling his ABC Food Tours initiative, which helps inner-city kids in New York City have the experience of eating in nice restaurants.
“You take for granted the dining experience and that it’s a luxury and not a right,” James said in the article.
“When we bring our kids out, and they’re asking us if they can bring out the glassware and use the napkins — having that conversation with them is unreal.”
James said in the article that the majority of the kids his organization helps are homeless or living in single-parent homes.
According to ABC, James majored in economics and played wide receiver at Wake Forest (if the Bachelor — Wake Forest football connection seems familiar, it’s because Tyler Cameron, from the Hannnah Brown Bachelorette season, also played at WFU).
James also has a connection to the Carolina Panthers, but how strongly he’s connected to that team is still unclear at the moment.
Most news outlets report that he played briefly there as a wide receiver before going to the New Orleans Saints.
As for when we actually get to see James being the new Bachelor, ABC says it will be screened next year.