Caila Quinn from "The Bachelor" 2016 (Photo : Instagram/Caila Quinn)
Fans of “The Bachelorette” 2016 were reportedly furious at ABC for replacing Caila Quinn with JoJo Fletcher the last minute. Season 12 is supposed to make history by casting a “non-white” bachelorette. For reasons unknown, the network and the producers apparently changed their mind before “The Bachelor” finale.
Reality Steve previously predicted that Caila (who is half Filipino) is going to be the next Bachelorette. Steve, however, soon changed his mind and decided to go with runner-up JoJo, the morning before the finale aired.
As reported by TV Line, several publications have pointed out that "The Bachelorette" creator Mike Fleiss tweeted about changing his traditional dinner of barbeque chicken to something with an international flair before "The Bachelorette" 2016 lead was confirmed.
"After 5 years of BBQ chicken as our Night One dinner, I'm thinking of mixing things up this year. Maybe a little Thai food... Yum!"
Interestingly, after it was revealed that JoJo Fletcher is the new Bachelorette, Fleiss posted about how he changed his mind about mixing things up and decided to go with barbeque chicken once again.
"I chickened out and went with BBQ chicken. If it ain't broke... #Bachelorette."
Fans of "The Bachelorette" 2016 did not appreciate Fleiss comparing Quinn and Fletcher to food. They held that it was just disturbing, sexist and racist.
They also pointed out that Quinn did not deserve to be treated that way, adding that "The Bachelor" alum must have been humiliated. Days before it was announced that Fletcher is the new Bachelorette, multiple blogs have already claimed that Quinn is going to be the new lead. It also did not help that Quinn has reportedly shot the intro in her hometown for season 12.
Some, on the other hand, came to Fleiss' defense, explaining that the next Bachelorette should not be chosen based on her ethnicity alone. They pointed out Fletcher had a lot more fans than Quinn.
When rumors started to circulate online that Quinn was going to be the lead in "The Bachelorette" 2016, many posted that they will not watch the next installment because of her "boring" personality. Apart from Fleiss chickening out, insiders claim that the negative response Quinn got from social media was a definite factor why the producers decided to go with Fletcher instead.
"The Bachelorette" 2016 airs May 23 on ABC.
