Former Bachelor contestant Sydney Lotuaco opens about being an Asian woman on The Bachelor amid the recent racism controversy.
Sydney spoke with Us Weekly about how she felt like she had to represent the entire demographic of Asian women during her time on Colton Underwood’s season of The Bachelor.
“That can be really difficult. I’m a half-Asian woman. And for my season, there were two people of Asian descent — myself and another girl. And the other girl went home night one. So, I was like, ‘Oh, looking around, I am the Asian woman for the season, I will be representing that card,’” Sydney shared.
Sydney reveals how lack of diversity impacted her time on the show
She explained that she felt the pressure interfered with her behavior on the show.
“It’s kind of sad. And it puts a lot more pressure on me to not have anything go wrong. And I think because of that, maybe in some ways, I could have been more guarded because I just wanted to represent that role well because I [had] the pressure of the entire race on my shoulders. Whether that was true or not, that’s kind of what I put on myself,” she revealed.
While she acknowledged that the franchise has improved in regards to diversity in casting, she still thinks The Bachelor has “a long way to go,” especially in regard to airtime for diverse contestants.
She expressed that increasing diversity in casting and the production team will allow young boys and girls of different races to see people who look like them falling in love and to see that it’s possible for them too.
The Bachelor vows to improve diversity following recent racism controversy
The Bachelor franchise found itself in hot water after racially insensitive pictures surfaced from contestant Rachael Kirkconnell’s social media.
Additionally, Bachelor host Chris Harrison defended Rachael’s actions during an interview with former Bachelorette lead Rachel Lindsay.
After receiving immense backlash, Chris stepped down from his hosting duties.
Shortly after, The Bachelor spoke out against Chris’ behavior and backed Rachel.
The Bachelor expressed that it intends to do better in regards to diversity. The Bachelor hired Emmanuel Acho to host the After The Final Rose finale special and even passed on Chris for hosting The Bachelorette in place of Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe.
Additionally, the franchise added two seasons of The Bachelorette with Katie Thurston and Michelle Young as the leads.
Now, Asian Bachelorette contestant Joe Park will be joining Bachelor in Paradise.
Time will tell if the franchise can redeem itself or if it’s too little too late.
The Bachelor is currently on hiatus at ABC.