ABC announces Matt James as the first Black bachelor

Matt James is making reality TV history as The Bachelor's first Black lead. James, who fans of the franchise may know as former contestant Tyler Cameron's best friend and business partner, was originally cast as a contestant on Clare Crawley's upcoming season of The Bachelorette. (The season was set to film this year but production shut down in March because of the coronavirus.) On Friday, however, ABC announced that James will in fact be starring as the show's next bachelor. The announcement, which marks a diversity milestone that fans have been requesting and petitioning about for years, means that James will be the show's first black bachelor. In 2017, Rachel Lindsay became the first Black bachelorette, but the franchise has received a fair share of criticism over the years for a lack of diversity. Read more...More about Diversity, The Bachelor, Rachel Lindsay, Reality Television, and Matt James