Jojo Fletcher has been announced as the next leading lady in the ABC's hit dating show "The Bachelorette" Season 12.
Fletcher was announced as the next "Bachelorette" during the 20th season finale of "The Bachelor". Apparently, tThe runners-up of the show's season looked beyond her flaws and moved on despite the great disappointment from Ben Higgins when he sent her home and proposed to Lauren Bushnell.
While Caila Quinn, "The Bachelor's" third place finisher, was previously rumoured to be the producer's top pick, Fletcher's announcement came as a huge surprise to multitudes. The wide speculation that ABC would pick Quinn as the leading lady was due to the studied pattern of the franchise to regularly pick "The Bachelor's" second runner's up as the next "Bachelorette."
For instance, Kaitlyn Bristowe, a former leading lady in "The Bachelorette" Season 11, had come as the second runner's up during her season of "The Bachelor." It has been reported that Quinn was willing to take up the part of ABC's leading lady.
In an interview with E! News, she confesses having fallen in love before and could see herself falling in love the second time. She continued by saying, "so yes, I would consider it."
According to Variety, it has come to much attention that the dating show hit series has never cast an African-American in either "The Bachelor" or "The Bachelorette". The two shows have had a significant number of white contestants and only Juan Pablo Galavis, a Latino non-white, has been featured at the forefront of the "Bachelor's" season 18 to date.
This being one of the reason, the ABC reality show has faced some criticisms due to its lack of diversity. However, former president of ABC Paul Lee told reporters early this year that "The Bachelorette" would show a diverse lead to satisfy critics. He stated they were taking strategies which comprised of making a lot of adjustments with the right farm team which would eventually enable them to pick the best next person. Lee further admitted to getting surprised during the summer if at all "The Bachelorette" did not showcase diversity.
The "The Bachelorette" Season 12 is scheduled to premiere on May 23, and many fans wait to see the drama that comes along with it.
Watch a clip of the announcement here: