Tayshia Adams proud to be a ‘voice’ for other girls of color

Tayshia Adams is proud to be a ‘voice’ for other girls of color as she begins her journey of love on The Bachelorette.  

Adams, who is Black and Mexican, reflected on being the representative she never had growing up as she discussed becoming the second Bachelorette of color in an interview with Variety.

‘I just love that I have the opportunity to be a voice for girls that look like me [and] identify with me that I didn’t have growing up,’ Adams, 30, said.

‘Everyone deserves love, no matter who you are, and I’m so happy that I have the journey as The Bachelorette to be a representative of that.’

The timing of Tayshia’s Bachelorette role coincides with Kamala Harris becoming the first woman and person of color to be elected Vice President.

The extraordinary circumstances have not gone unnoticed by Tayshia.

‘It’s an iconic time,’ Adams said of Harris. ‘I feel like this is all supposed to be happening when it’s supposed to be happening. I feel so blessed, and I know that I have millions of eyes watching, and the fact that I am able to have the opportunity to represent a lot of women is amazing.’

The Bachelor franchise has faced backlash for lacking a diverse cast, and in it’s 18-year history has only ever had one Black lead.

Rachel Lindsay became the first Black Bachelorette in 2017, and over the summer Matt James was announced as the first Black Bachelor.

Matt, who close friends with fan favorites Tyler Cameron and Hannah Brown, has never appeared on the show before, but was originally cast for Clare Crawley’s season. 

Tayshia was brought in as The Bachelorette after original lead, Clare, become engaged to contestant Dale Moss just four episodes into the series.

The shake-up is historic for the show, which had never switched leads midway into a season before.

Tayshia was invited to become The Bachelorette after receiving a call from the show explaining Clare was on track to ‘find her person.’

‘I got a phone call that it was moving in a direction that she was able to find her person, and that if it was possible for her and [Dale] to get engaged, then it was opportunity for me. Nothing was guaranteed though,’ she explained. ‘It was definitely shared to me that, “If it does move this way, then we would love for you to come.” If not, then I’m not sure what would have happened.’