The Bachelor Season 21: Spoilers and Speculation

[Nowhere]

6 minutes ago, gator12 said:

If we are to believe RS, the producers have already cast their contestant, its pretty much set and with the usual suspects. 

This is probably be like when the announce Nick early for the Bachelor and yet most of these women look like they were cast for Luke and Chase, and Nick had more than a month before he started filming his season.

I think the producers cast their contestant before they pick their leads and the announcing early stuff has nothing to do with picking contestant that are just the lead but just for publicity purposes.

Yeah that's what I just said. They have the cast before they know the lead usually. But in this case, if Rachel comes out as the lead now, they may not have the cast yet. The applicants will all know exactly who they're getting. So that's more right reasons then not knowing at all but applying anyway. Of course, in true famewhore fashion, she'll get men that only want to be a part of history being made. The cast of the very first black bachelorette may get even more attention than previous seasons. Ok I just changed my mind. I'm going with less right reasons when I think about it that way. Darn.

[CindyBee]

Been reading the comments associated with the Jezebel article on Rachel being named the next Bachelorette and so far its surprisingly pretty positive but I wonder once the news gets picked up by the mainstream press the racist loonies will come out.

There is this one Raven "fan" that is all over twitter, trying to drum up support for a switch ala Caila/JoJo. Its actually very funny.  And delusional.

[Nowhere]

The final few could all be black. So what? Or are you saying that the producers would make her choose the white guys?

[gator12]

10 minutes ago, Nowhere said:

Yeah that's what I just said. They have the cast before they know the lead usually. But in this case, if Rachel comes out as the lead now, they may not have the cast yet. The applicants will all know exactly who they're getting. So that's more right reasons then not knowing at all but applying anyway. Of course, in true famewhore fashion, she'll get men that only want to be a part of history being made. The cast of the very first black bachelorette may get even more attention than previous seasons. Ok I just changed my mind. I'm going with less right reasons when I think about it that way. Darn.

I think they already have the cast, simply b/c of how and when they shoot the Bachelorette. And they are probably doing the intro packages for the Bachelorette contestant already. Kind of how we new Jordan would be on Jojo's season before the producers dump Caila and cast Jojo's as the lead during Ben's finale. 

I'll gave you this, they will probably cast five more guys after the announcement tonight

[b2H]

I'd be careful about this for a few reasons, having followed this series for several years.  Fleiss' history is that he isn't committed to anything until the first minutes of shooting.  Look at Caila.  Look at some of the others who already had their intro reel filmed, edited and cut, ready to go (that we're still waiting to see) and they picked someone else (e.g., Luke and Chase this season).

I don't buy it - Fleiss is running it up the flagpole to see if anyone salutes. 

[Mabinogia]

6 minutes ago, CindyBee said:

There is this one Raven "fan" that is all over twitter, trying to drum up support for a switch ala Caila/JoJo. Its actually very funny.  And delusional.

Ha, that's probably Raven herself. She's been gunning for the spot before this season even began.

Maybe that's why they are announcing it so early, to prevent anyone from derailing their plan of having a black lead.

[hnygrl]

Just like they're doing with Nick, they'd make sure the Black Bachelor stuck around. Hopefully there will be a monkey wrench thrown in the works and Rachel LIKES him.

But What I'm thinking is that Rachel will pick who she likes (there'll be a few black guys, but not like 15 or 20 black guys, that's too...well...you know...I don't need to say it. It'd be funny if the hand-picked-black-bachelor turns out to be Mr. Perfect. For Rachel. Then what would they do?

(I'm black by the way) I still think this is a set-up to get a black bachelor. And like we do with each and every bachelor/ette since the beginning, we're all gonna turn on her when she's the lead. Being one of many, and being the only one, are totally different experiences...she may be smart and funny and mature among a bunch of 20-something babies, but among age-appropriate ment? She may be another (name your least favorite bach'ette)...

[gator12]

5 minutes ago, Nowhere said:

The final few could all be black. So what? Or are you saying that the producers would make her choose the white guys?

I know this question isn't to me. I don't think the producers will make her choose anyone that she doesn't want to. 

What will happen is like all the other leads, they will tell the producers the 2 to 4 guys they are most interested in night one and she and the producers will negotiated between the guys she gave no s*** about, when to cut them off. If she plays the game, she'll get a good edit, if she act like Kaitlyn and/or Juan Pablo, bad edit.

3 minutes ago, hnygrl said:

Just like they're doing with Nick, they'd make sure the Black Bachelor stuck around. Hopefully there will be a monkey wrench thrown in the works and Rachel LIKES him.

But What I'm thinking is that Rachel will pick who she likes (there'll be a few black guys, but not like 15 or 20 black guys, that's too...well...you know...I don't need to say it. It'd be funny if the hand-picked-black-bachelor turns out to be Mr. Perfect. For Rachel. Then what would they do?

(I'm black by the way) I still think this is a set-up to get a black bachelor. And like we do with each and every bachelor/ette since the beginning, we're all gonna turn on her when she's the lead. Being one of many, and being the only one, are totally different experiences...she may be smart and funny and mature among a bunch of 20-something babies, but among age-appropriate ment? She may be another (name your least favorite bach'ette)...

The producers will do like they did when their next lead "fell" for the current lead. I think Jordan was cast simply to be the next Bachelor. 

[Cecily]

I don't buy that they've finished casting. My guess is the early announcement is all about finding better contestants than the applicants they have lined up. Firstly, it's gonna look all kinds of bad if they don't cast at least 10-15 black men. Secondly, Rachel is what, 31? They may not have enough age appropriate men, let alone age appropriate black men in the bunch. 

[JenE4]

1 hour ago, Nowhere said:

I was going to say something similar. Black men probably don't apply to the show as much as white men. But if they can get the word out far enough in advance, they may get some really good black applicants and also the white applicants would be men who appreciate black women. In other words, there won't be a bunch of lily white entitled famewhores who may leave the show as soon as they find out the lead is a black woman (gasp). If Rachel is the lead, it may be the most right reasons season we've ever seen. She is absolutely amazing, smart, beautiful, and kind. And I'll say the same even if we do get to see her rip Vanessa a new asshole. But I'm sure we won't have the pleasure of witnessing such an interaction. 

Bring back Marquel!!!!!!!!!!! He's one of my favorite contestants of all time!

But did this announcement actually happen? I presume the show already aired, so we would know whether the rumor was true? However, announcing it on Kimmel makes no sense. Harrison always has the honor of announcing that. If they don't want to wait until TMTA or ATFR, then they could have a Very Special Bachelor--just cut a Corrine scene and tack on the announcement at an end of an episode, teasing it at every commercial bumper, of course. However, announcing it while she's still a contestant doesn't make any sense at all. Why would they spoil themselves while she's still in the running?

edited to add: I just saw the article below that the episode is tonight. I guess we'll see. I do think whether or not they announce it tonight, it will be Rachel. 

Edited February 13, 2017 by JenE4

[CindyBee]

Its on Yahoo as Kirsten Baldwin has an article up and she's in the know about everything as Chris Harrison does a blog for Yahoo now:

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/rachel-lindsay-first-black-bachelorette-230539945.html

I don't think they can go back and change the lead to Raven.  Or Corinne.  Or anyone not named Rachel Lindsey, IMHO.

Sorry Raven.   Have fun at the pool in paradise!

Edited to add that the Hollywood Reporter has an article up too, so the main stream press is picking up on the story fast.   Fleiss/ABC must be loving the extra buzz/hype.  

Edited February 13, 2017 by CindyBee

[KenyaJ]

It's on BuzzFeed and TV Line too. Even though I've watched every season of this show and know all the machinations, I'm really happy about the choice and excited for Rachel. I'll be hoping against hope that she gets some decent guys on her season.

[chocolatine]

55 minutes ago, Cecily said:

I don't buy that they've finished casting.

They probably still have a couple hundred guys in the running. Based on what several contestants have said, the narrowing down to the final 25 doesn't happen until a few days before filming starts, and even then there have been last minute switches and TPTB have several "alternates" on stand-by.

23 minutes ago, JenE4 said:

Bring back Marquel!!!!!!!!!!! He's one of my favorite contestants of all time! 

I have the sinking feeling that if they do bring back a black former contestant for Rachel, it's going to be Princeton Ian.

Edited February 13, 2017 by chocolatine

[truthaboutluv]

I have no major feelings about Rachel being the Bachelorette because she was always a strong possibility as soon as the spoilers came out saying she got the FIR and she made it to F3. I'm just baffled why the need to announce it now when they could have waited two weeks when she is eliminated. It's especially odd because reading around online, most unspoiled people are sure the F2 is going to be her and Vanessa and there are some who believe Nick has a better connection with her. So it makes no sense that the show would so blatantly spoil that she's not the F1. And what will be more annoying is that she'll have to play coy in her interviews because even if they're announcing her, they'll probably still not want her to tell what happens.

So I guess the unspoiled can speculate that she eliminated herself or that Nick picked her but she turned him down (many Nick haters are wishing for that ending no matter the woman), etc. It was said in snark, but I'm wondering if that one poster is right and maybe Fleiss and company think this is their contribution to Black History Month and so wanted to get it out smack in the middle of February. Because again, assuming spoilers are accurate, Rachel is F3 and was bound to be at the WTA anyway - just announce it then, like they've done many other times. 

The only possible reason I can think of is that they decided to get it out of the way now, assuming there would be so much press around the fact that they have their first black lead. And that way it wouldn't overshadow the end of Nick's season and his F1, again assuming the spoilers are right and he and Vanessa are indeed engaged. But then I remember the producers don't actually give a shit about any of these people so I find that reason hard to believe. 

Edited February 13, 2017 by truthaboutluv

[peachmangosteen]

Yea, I really don't get why they're announcing it now. 

3 minutes ago, truthaboutluv said:

... Nick picked her but she turned him down (many Nick haters are wishing for that ending no matter the woman), etc.

Not gonna lie, I kinda wish that (Nick being turned down by his F1) would've happened and I actually like Nick lol.

Edited February 13, 2017 by peachmangosteen

[JenE4]

42 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

 

I have the sinking feeling that if they do bring back a black former contestant for Rachel, it's going to be Princeton Ian.

I think Ian was unjustly branded with a scarlet WR. There were SEVERAL guys in Kaitlyn's season that similarly confronted her that she seemed to be There for the Wrong Reasons or not giving anyone but Nick and Sean a chance. So I would gladly root for Ian having another chance.

[gator12]

2 hours ago, Cecily said:

I don't buy that they've finished casting. My guess is the early announcement is all about finding better contestants than the applicants they have lined up. Firstly, it's gonna look all kinds of bad if they don't cast at least 10-15 black men. Secondly, Rachel is what, 31? They may not have enough age appropriate men, let alone age appropriate black men in the bunch. 

I would be surprise if they cast at least 10-15 black men.  It might be somewhat diverse like the contestant Nick had this year but I don't think ABC/producers cares about looking bad. They are producing trash tv, might not be the old VH1 dating show trash but still trash tv.

And this show has proven that they don't care about age appropriate contestant. Brad was like 38, who did they cast for him, a bunch of 24 to 29 year old. It didn't look that bad with Kaitlyn when she was 29 and they cast 25 to 29 year old. 

I don't trust ABC and these producers that what I'm saying

I'm happy for Rachel, I like her, hope it last. lol

Edited February 14, 2017 by gator12

[MsPH]

8 minutes ago, JenE4 said:

I think Ian was unjustly branded with a scarlet WR. There were SEVERAL guys in Kaitlyn's season that similarly confronted her that she seemed to be There for the Wrong Reasons or not giving anyone but Nick and Sean a chance. So I would gladly root for Ian having another chance.

It's not the confronting her, it's the way he went about it. He said some pretty awful things that made him sound like a proper scorned narcissist. No thanks to seeing any more of him. 

[kalibean]

Is it still a spoiler when it hits mainstream media? One of the Dallas area local newscasters Ron Corning just shared this US Weekly story on Facebook. 

http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/abc-casts-rachel-lindsay-as-first-black-bachelorette-w466905?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=breakingnews&utm_campaign=021317_19

[truthaboutluv]

Her being the lead is not the spoiler. But her being F3 and when she's eliminated still is I guess. But yeah, this is all over the media - US Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly, etc. have all picked it up.

[huahaha]

2 hours ago, gator12 said:

This is probably be like when the announce Nick early for the Bachelor and yet most of these women look like they were cast for Luke and Chase, and Nick had more than a month before he started filming his season.

You think? Nick's girls really, really look like his type to me. He has a thing for dark brunettes with dark eyes and particular face shapes. In the beginning, it was hard to tell the women apart because they shared so many common features. I highly doubt that Luke and Chase have the same type.

[gator12]

2 minutes ago, huahaha said:

You think? Nick's girls really, really look like his type to me. He has a thing for dark brunettes with dark eyes and particular face shapes. In the beginning, it was hard to tell the women apart because they shared so many common features. I highly doubt that Luke and Chase have the same type.

Well those two went on a season with Jojo season, plus how young most of the women this season are and also how Luke (and I think it was Chase, might have been Robbie that said the same thing on a podcast) had his bags pack and ready to go before ABC call them hours before getting on a plane to tell them nah, we are going with Nick.

I think what they do is have a pool of contestant that they are going to cast for a season, sometime they pull from last year pool (Kaitlyn said she sign up for Juan Pablo season and they cast her for farmer Chris) and when they announce the lead, they might cast 5 people for the new applicant pool.

I don't think they cast this show with the lead in mind at all, now with people saying that Rachel was cast this season to be the next Bachelorette while this season was filming, maybe they are casting age appropriate men with actual jobs (not jobs like Canadian), but judging from past season, I doubt it. 

[ByTor]

36 minutes ago, truthaboutluv said:

Her being the lead is not the spoiler.

Sure it is, it spoils that she doesn't win.

[truthaboutluv]

I was responding to the comment about us discussing her as the lead in the spoiler thread. Obviously, with this all over the media, her being the lead is not a spoiler. However, unless one is spoiled, they still won't know what happened. She could have turned Nick down, eliminated herself, etc.

[Mabinogia]

It should be a spoiler, but for some reason ABC has decided to spoil their own show by announcing her before she's kicked off this season. It's really strange. Especially since she has been named by many as one of Nick's top picks. So now it feels like it's really obvious who is going to win. Has the show just totally given up on the "suprise" aspect of it?

[JenE4]

1 hour ago, MsPH said:

It's not the confronting her, it's the way he went about it. He said some pretty awful things that made him sound like a proper scorned narcissist. No thanks to seeing any more of him. 

I'll take your word for it. I think I was so over Kaitlyn at that point that anyone telling her off was fine in my book. lol.

[nutty1]

I am so hoping Fleiss is fooling everyone and will announce Kristina as the next Bachelorette. She certainly had the edit for it tonight. I just cannot figure out why they are announcing her before she leaves. They couldn't wait a few more weeks??

Edited February 14, 2017 by nutty1

[TheFinalRose]

I'm happy for Rachel (I guess). As to why they are spoiling their own show and announcing it so early, at first I thought it was to recruit better candidates, but then I just thought, nah, all they need to do is spread out and go to a few bars and collect their 25 diverse guys. I think they are doing it now to create positive buzz because the Ben & Lauren breakup announcement will be coming in three .... two .... one....

[TomGirl]

If they're looking for black bachelors for Rachel, what about Grant from BIP?  He's gorgeous and seems like a really nice guy.

[kalibean]

49 minutes ago, TomGirl said:

If they're looking for black bachelors for Rachel, what about Grant from BIP?  He's gorgeous and seems like a really nice guy.

Soooo he didn't make it last with crazytown from BiP? Shocker. 

I like Grant and agree he's great looking, but not sure he's at her level intellectually.  Tho I'm honestly not sure if that matters. This show, I swear. 

[yorklee2]

1 hour ago, kalibean said:

Soooo he didn't make it last with crazytown from BiP? Shocker. 

I like Grant and agree he's great looking, but not sure he's at her level intellectually.  Tho I'm honestly not sure if that matters. This show, I swear. 

Also I can't see Rachel wanting Lace's sloppy seconds. Personally I would never pick him after being with Lace. She just seemed sleazy and dirty to me. Besides Rachel deserves better than bringing back past rejects. 

Edited February 14, 2017 by yorklee2

[ByTor]

2 hours ago, yorklee2 said:

 Personally I would never pick him after being with Lace.

No way!  She tainted him.

[gator12]

So they start filming in a couple of week

[JudyObscure]

I'm so happy for Rachel, I said I hoped she'd be The B'ette after the first episode.  I just have one fear.  I think Nick has made this the worst season of The Bachelor ever, and lots of people may be giving up on the show permanently, just when Rachel comes along.  It will be misinterpreted if ratings drop during her season because the Nick show was so boring.

[truthaboutluv]

I don't see that because for all of the negative comments regarding Nick, the season's ratings have been just fine and continues to consistently win its night. However, as someone noted, The Bachelorette seasons have often typically had lower ratings than The Bachelor season.

Edited February 14, 2017 by truthaboutluv

[booboopbedoo]

Well that pissed me off- I did not want to know about Rachel yet.

I am not a fan of hers.

[slowpoked]

So back to spoilers on this season - can I assume that the huge fight between Vanessa and Rachel won't make it on air anymore? I think last night will be the last time all the women stay together, and from HTD to final two, I think the women will be staying on their own, no? If the women are no longer staying together, then I can't see how the two of them will suddenly end up on a huge fight.

[CindyBee]

4 minutes ago, slowpoked said:

So back to spoilers on this season - can I assume that the huge fight between Vanessa and Rachel won't make it on air anymore? I think last night will be the last time all the women stay together, and from HTD to final two, I think the women will be staying on their own, no? If the women are no longer staying together, then I can't see how the two of them will suddenly end up on a huge fight.

Nope, we are never going to see what happened with the fight between Vanessa and Rachel.  Since the other girls were mostly team Rachel and Rachel being the favorite to be the next Bachelorette, its probably a good thing for Vanessa that the fight was dropped from the story board as it probably would have been edited not in her favor.   

The fact that she was MIA for the second half of the episode,  she must have been in a real bad mood not to at least fake hang out with the others.   And yes, once they leave Bimini, the girls will only see each other at the final 4 rose ceremony in NYC and the final 3 ceremony in Finland.

[truthaboutluv]

Just now, CindyBee said:

Nope, we are never going to see what happened with the fight between Vanessa and Rachel.  Since the other girls were mostly team Rachel and Rachel being the favorite to be the next Bachelorette, its probably a good thing for Vanessa that the fight was dropped from the story board as it probably would have been edited not in her favor.  

Or you could argue they wouldn't want to show their current Bachelorette in a bad light. Here's the thing, right now all we know is a spoiler by RS that something went down between the two. Even he stated that he doesn't know what the fight was about or why. He did state though that he heard they both went a little below the belt. 

My thing is, this show is bred for drama. All of the little things like not even being allowed to have a book, no gym, etc. is clearly meant to make these people go crazy and eventually turn on each other.  And let's not forget the handler whispering into all of their ears. In other words, someone could be a perfectly nice person in their everyday life and the experience of being on this show brings out an ugly side of them. 

I like Rachel, just like I like Vanessa and have seen nothing post show to make me not like either. But the idea that Rachel was clearly in the right without seeing what happened, makes no sense to me. And the women being on Rachel's side doesn't prove anything to me either. All the guys ganged up on Nick during Andi's season and liked Josh Murray, nuff said. And I also don't buy this need to protect Vanessa so much because she's F1 because they showed Courtney and Vienna in all their bitchy glory and look at the number the tabloids did on Jordan during JoJo's season. 

We have seen Rachel in multiple episodes state clearly how much she hated group dates, hated the whole experience of it and even on Kimmel last night she said the worst part of her experience was having to be with all these women. The point is in that environment, it's so easy for people to get on each other's nerves. I would never do this show for many reasons but that's top right there. It's an environment meant to breed jealousy, play on people's insecurities, etc. 

[slowpoked]

1 hour ago, CindyBee said:

 The fact that she was MIA for the second half of the episode,  she must have been in a real bad mood not to at least fake hang out with the others.   

It was weird that she wasn't anywhere near the foursome when Kristina was crying her heart out. Even "I'm not here to make friends" Corrine was comforting Kristina. If I was expecting anyone to not give a shit about Kristina going home, it will be Corinne, not Vanessa. 

[gator12]

I think the girls form a clique looking at social media, her last friend Danielle M went home and it was Rachel, Raven, and Corrine vs Vanessa. With Kristina being in the middle.

Earlier in the season, Rachel, Raven and Corrine was talking/being snarky about CFA on instagram. People on a Bach forum said it stood for Crying for Attention and that they were talking about Vanessa. Funny that Vanessa wasn't the only one who was crying doing the volleyball game.

[truthaboutluv]

Regarding Vanessa not being present when Kristina was crying, they didn't show her say goodbye to Danielle M. either and post-show social media activity makes it clear she and Danielle M. were and still are very close. Plus the season promos kept showing her bawling on a bed saying she didn't understand the decisions Nick was making and at one point, you see her in the same outfit, crying with Danielle M. My guess is that was when Danielle was eliminated and again, didn't see any of that last night. It's like the editors just had her vanish from the show once her 1 on 1 was done. So I wouldn't take her not being seen in the group hug with Kristina as proof that she didn't care or didn't say goodbye to her. 

[Wings]

We didn't see the fight Rachael and Vanessa were reported to have had.   If they decided to cut that out thinking it would mar Rachael's image,  it may be the reason We didn't see much of Vanessa.  Meaning footage of her may have included reference to the fight in a way that would not make sense. 

[slowpoked]

It was just a weird thing to entirely cut if off when there was some footage shown of it on the first episode's "preview for the season". I certainly remember Vanessa and Rachel arguing with someone although they weren't both in the same shot. Just a weird thing to show if you're not going to include it at all this season. Oh, but the drama!

[slowpoked]

17 hours ago, TomGirl said:

If they're looking for black bachelors for Rachel, what about Grant from BIP?  He's gorgeous and seems like a really nice guy.

Eeewwww...I hope not. He's slimy and a sleazebag for what he did to his ex to get into the show.

[Zung Li]

6 hours ago, gator12 said:

Earlier in the season, Rachel, Raven and Corrine was talking/being snarky about CFA on instagram. People on a Bach forum said it stood for Crying for Attention and that they were talking about Vanessa

 Maybe they meant Nick.

[truthaboutluv]

13 minutes ago, mingming said:

 Maybe they meant Nick.

lmao...

[gator12]

1 hour ago, mingming said:

 Maybe they meant Nick.

Lol, maybe

I found the screencap of it https://servimg.com/view/19549969/73

I believe it from this photo

Edited February 15, 2017 by gator12

[In2You]

On 2/13/2017 at 8:23 PM, ByTor said:

Sure it is, it spoils that she doesn't win.

Nick's season has been a dud so they need to drum up interest for the finale

[truthaboutluv]

Putting aside the fact that the ratings for this season have been just fine and on par with other seasons, how is basically spoiling that one of the women many unspoiled people thought for sure would at least be in the F2 if not F1, gets eliminated, going to drum up interest for the finale? If anything, it's made some think there's no point to keep watching.

My friend is completely unspoiled and she is pissed about this announcement because she had Rachel as Top 2 and now knows that even if she is, clearly she's not his F1. Some were still throwing around the idea that we don't know how she leaves, maybe she eliminated herself, turned him down, etc. But apparently in one of her media interviews, Rachel basically admits Nick eliminated her. So so much for that theory.