The Bachelorette Australia is going where no Bachelor franchise has ever gone before. The Australian franchise has just cast its first openly bisexual Bachelorette lead who will date both men and women on her season.
The upcoming Australian Bachelorette lead is Brooke Blurton. She first joined the franchise as a contestant on Nick Cummins’ season of The Bachelor.
She then appeared on the following season of Bachelor in Paradise.
Now, she gets to lead her own season of The Bachelorette in a way that has never been done before.
“I am not too sure if Australia is ready for it—I certainly am,” Brooke told The Daily Telegraph of her upcoming season. “If it makes people feel uncomfortable in any way, I really challenge them to think about why it does.”
The new Bachelorette-to-be also shared the exciting news on her Instagram account.
Will The Bachelor America cast an LGTBQ+ lead?
Now that Australia has cast its first bisexual lead, fans wonder if The Bachelor will cast a gay or bisexual lead for any of the upcoming Bachelor or Bachelorette seasons.
Reportedly, producers already began considering the possibility after former Bachelor lead Colton Underwood came out as gay.
Bachelor producers have been very supportive of Colton since coming out and have a lot of love for him.
According to TMZ, this sparked a discussion among producers about having a gay Bachelor lead.
“Our sources say the bigwigs on the show haven’t weighed in and there has been no formal discussion, but creative ideas for TV shows typically begin with shop talk among producers and other staff, and that’s happening now,” TMZ reported.
So casting a gay Bachelor lead certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility for the American franchise.
Additionally, the franchise experienced a big shakeup after the racism controversy that caused Chris Harrison to step away.
Casting an LGTBQ+ lead may be the perfect step that the franchise can take toward inclusivity.
However, because of all the recent change, it may be a move that the franchise is too afraid to make.
Bachelor in Paradise has already explored its first bisexual relationship
Bachelor Nation star Demi Burnett was the first openly bisexual contestant to explore a same-sex relationship on Bachelor in Paradise.
A woman whom she had been talking to prior to filming, Kristian Haggerty, was invited to Paradise and the two explored their connection on the summer spinoff series.
Demi and Kristian even got engaged at the end of the series.
However, the two have since split and there hasn’t been another LGBTQ+ relationship explored on The Bachelor American frachise since.
Maybe with Australia’s recent decision, the American Bachelor franchise will consider casting a gay or bisexual lead as well.
The Bachelorette returns to ABC on Monday, June 7 at 8/7c.