Former The Bachelorette lead Rachel Lindsay has returned to social media after deactivating her Instagram account amid The Bachelor racism controversy.
Rachel uploaded an Instagram post on Saturday for the first time in weeks. She posted a picture of a modern, square vase filled with sunflowers.
Rachel returned to social media with a bold yet uplifting message implying that she’s not letting the haters bring her down.
She captioned the post, “I want to be like a sunflower so that even on the darkest days I will stand tall and find the sunlight.”
Several Bachelorette leads showed their support for Rachel in the comments section including her Bachelor Happy Hour podcast cohost Becca Kufrin, Kaitlyn Bristow, Ali Fedotowsky, Desiree Hartsock, DeAnna Pappas, and Emily Maynard.
Bachelorette alum Mike Johnson, who has been very vocal about Matt James and this season of The Bachelor, also welcomed Rachel back to social media in the comments.
Some women from the current season of The Bachelor also showed their love in the comments section.
“This hug might be virtual, but the love is very real. Welcome back!” Jessenia Cruz exclaimed.
“All the love coming your way,” Katie Thurston expressed.
“Welcome back queen,” Pieper James wrote, “all love and positive energy.”
Why Rachel left social media
Rachel explained on her Higher Learning podcast that she deactivated her Instagram for the sake of her mental health.
After she called out Chris Harrison for defending Rachael Kirkconnell’s racist social media activity, Rachel received plenty of attention from Bachelor Nation.
Some of it was positive but a lot of the attention was negative. While one specific comment put her over the edge, she revealed she had been receiving numerous death threats.
Since deactivating her Instagram, many people from Bachelor Nation spoke out on her behalf including her husband, Bryan Abasolo, Becca Kufrin, and the Bachelor producers.
Rachel wants to ‘move forward’ from the controversy
Chris Harrison apologized for his interview with Rachel while appearing on Good Morning America.
Following the apology, Rachel said she had chosen to accept it because she wanted to move forward from the controversy.
Rachel explained that Chris had also apologized privately to her. She also expressed that she wants the decision whether Chris keeps his job as The Bachelor host to remain between Chris and production.
Even though she accepted Chris’s apology, she likely still wants to see positive, forward movement towards diversity and inclusivity on The Bachelor.
In the meantime, many members of Bachelor Nation seem relieved to see Rachel back on social media.
The Bachelor airs on Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.