The Bachelor star Abigail Heringer won over viewers on Monday night, as she opened up about her disability.
She told viewers that she was born completely deaf and that she wore a cochlear implant.
Matt James was smitten with her and it didn’t take him long to realize that she was the one who should get his first impression rose.
Even if Abigail doesn’t win The Bachelor, she won fans’ hearts because she was so open and vulnerable.
Abigail was praised for her bravery in going on the show, but as some Bachelor fans brought up, she isn’t the first person to come on the show with a disability.
Abigail Heringer isn’t the first woman with a disability to be on The Bachelor
On a Bachelor fan account, screenshots were shared from a user who wrote, “Thank you @bachelorabc franchise for FINALLY casting someone with a disability!! So Important for people to see how people with disabilities thrive and also deserve to be loved and are still good people.”
The user also gave a special thanks to Abigail for representing disability and the entire community.
However, it should be noted that Abigail is not the first person to have disabilities on The Bachelor. And people started replying to the Bachelor fan account, reminding people that Sarah Herron was also on the show before – with a disability.
Plus, Sarah was not only on Sean Lowe’s season of The Bachelor. She also appeared on two seasons of Bachelor In Paradise.
Fans were clearly thrilled to have Abigail on the show but wanted to make sure that everyone knew that Sarah had also represented that community before.
Abigail Heringer is helping the issue of diversity
Abigail is helping the issue of diversity in the Bachelor franchise. After The Bachelor premiere, Abigail revealed that she was blown away by the support she had received from viewers and she quickly became a fan favorite.
Matt is also helping the issue of diversity. He’s the first African American to take the lead of The Bachelor in the show’s two-decade run.
Matt himself was chosen as The Bachelor back in June 2020 after the show received criticism for lacking diversity. Even though it took years for producers to cast a person of color, Chris Harrison is thrilled that the show is moving in that direction.
The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.