The Bachelor: Juan Pablo Breaks His Silence On Franchise Scandal
Season 25 of The Bachelor marked a new milestone for the franchise: Matt James was the first Black Bachelor. Yet the series was quickly overshadowed with bullying allegations amongst contestants and winner Rachael Kirkconnell's racially-insensitive social media presence coming to light.
Longtime host Chris Harrison was asked to step away from the franchise after problematically defending Rachael, and was replaced by former Bachelorettes Kaitlyn Bristowe and Tayshia Adams for the upcoming Bachelorette season, per Us Weekly. Speaking of Bachelorettes, ABC opted for back-to-back seasons of the women-led spinoff, featuring both Katie Thurston and Michelle Young, respectively.
On top of everything, Matt didn't propose to either Michelle or Rachael in the finale, drawing comparisons to former Bachelor star Juan Pablo Galavis. "Rachael is almost certainly about to get Juan Pablo'd," Entertainment Weekly TV critic Kristen Baldwin live-tweeted during the highly-anticipated final episode. Matt vowed to be with Rachael outside of the series, but he revealed on After the Final Rose that he dumped Rachael after realizing she "couldn't understand [his] Blackness," according to Page Six.
Juan Pablo took to Twitter to reveal that he has more in common with Matt than just not proposing to his season winner. Keep scrolling to find out what Juan Pablo had to say about this unprecedented season!
Juan Pablo Galavis also encountered discrimination while being the Bachelor
Juan Pablo Galavis' infamous Bachelor season placed him on lists of least favorite leads. His runner-up Clare Crawley had one of the most iconic breakup clapbacks, telling Juan Pablo that she would "never want [her] children to have a father" like him, per Screen Rant. Juan Pablo also struggled to tell winner Nikki Ferrell that he loved her.
Now, Juan Pablo is breaking his silence on Bachelor Nation's call for equity. "It's SAD to see the PERSISTENT racism and DISCRIMINATION is finally coming to LIGHT after 25 seasons of The Bachelor," Juan Pablo tweeted on March 15, 2021. "I can PERSONALLY attest to this SITUATION as the FIRST Latino on the show. Rachel Lindsay, thank you for CALLING out Chris Harrison."
Juan Pablo live-tweeted during the Season 25 finale to applaud Matt James. "Thank GOD The Bachelor didn't LISTEN to [producer] Mike Fleiss and Chris Harrison this TIME. Happy to see they DIDN'T trash you Matt James for NOT proposing," Juan Pablo wrote.
Fans responded to Juan Pablo's posts. "The difference is [Juan Pablo's season] happened 8 years ago when comments making fun of his accent and cultural differences/misunderstandings could slide under the rug without a scandal," a viewer posted on Reddit.
Another wrote: "His homophobic comments and misogyny ain't it, but neither was the constant racist s*** about not understanding his accent etc." While Juan Pablo will no doubt remain divisive, he is also calling for Bachelor Nation to change.