Is The Bachelor racially insensitive? Channel 10 responds to criticism

CHANNEL 10 has responded to criticism that The Bachelor is racially insensitive, but are you convinced?

Game on. Some of this season’s Bachelorettes.

CHANNEL 10 has responded to claims The Bachelor is racially insensitive by pointing out the diverse ethnicities among its current crop of contestants.

When the debut episode premiered on Wednesday night, Ten introduced viewers to 24 of Australia’s most beautiful Bachelorettes — a gaggle of blondes, brunettes and bling.

But as the nation swooned over Mr. Hunk of Spunk Blake Garvey, viewers noticed a lack of diversity among the cast.

Won't be finding racial diversity on #TheBachelorAU they even use a white rose :)

— mark (@voodoorock) July 30, 2014

No. of black/aborigine girls on #TheBachelorAU: 0 Asian girls: 0 White skinny pretty girls: 100%

— Jack Tanner (@rafamoroni) July 31, 2014

@Daniel_Sankey @MattYoung the bachelor himself is half African American. Maybe producers thought that would meet the quota for diversity.

— Goldie Jardin (@GoldieJardin) August 1, 2014

Notice something missing?

Anyone noticed the lack of diversity on this show? #TheBachelorAU pic.twitter.com/YtjpU8J09U

— Puppy Pirate (@Puppy_Pirate) July 30, 2014

Ive just realised there is no token black or asian girl this year!!! #TheBachelorAU

— Viscount TJ Campbell (@spanner77) July 30, 2014

@MattYoung @bencubby come on, I can see plenty of brunettes in there

— Jess Hill (@jessradio) August 1, 2014

So news.com.au put it to the network: has The Bachelor failed to meet the racially diverse expectations we would come to expect?

Their answer? Apparently not, confirming seven ladies had diverse ancestral backgrounds.

Another Queenslander, Diana, is Romanian.

Queensland’s Amber is half-Chinese, half-French-Canadian.

Victoria’s Chantal is half-Dutch/half-Polish.

Law student Bridgette-Rose, eliminated last night, is a mix of Anglo Indian and Armenian.

Model Tiarna, also eliminated last night, is half-African American.

Villain-turned-favourite Laurina is half-Mauritian.

New South Wales’ Amanda is half-Filipino.

Ten wouldn’t comment further, but the network did make an effort to point out that Garvey is the first African American to appear on any Bachelor series, including the US version which was sued for its lack of ethnically-diverse contestants.

Although Garvey is a sixth-generation Aussie on his mum’s side, his dad is African American and born in New Orleans.

“(Mum) said in her own joking way — how did she put it? You’re the first ‘Caramel Bach’ in the world!” Garvey told News Corp’s Andrew Fenton.

“I just cracked up and said, ‘What about the US?’ She said the closest they had was (Juan) Pablo (Galavis) who is Hispanic but has blonde hair and blue eyes. It just goes to show how multicultural Australia is.”

But are we really? Social media seems to think otherwise ...

No Asian or black women? The new Bachelor may be hot but he's also kind of racist, yeah? #TheBachelorAU

— Dwayne Lennox (@TheLennoXFiles) July 30, 2014

Great to see such diversity on #ThebachelorAU this year: some of the girls have a hairstyle other than "long and curled at the ends"!! :O

— Stephanie Childs (@stephanite) July 30, 2014

@MattYoung @newscomauHQ. Was thinking the same thing when I saw 5 mins of the show and changed the channel, ugh.

— Elena (@Twitfixxx) August 1, 2014

Last night’s episode saw two of the girls, Bridgette-Rose and Tiarna, eliminated from the show, leaving us to wonder if we really are watching a predominantly “white” show.

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In 2012 two African American men filed a lawsuit against the US version of The Bachelor and its spin-off The Bachelorette, claiming the show blocked contestants from minority backgrounds from leading roles.

Nathaniel Claybrooks and Christopher Johnson auditioned to be contestants, but at a casting call, they say they were overlooked in comparison to the white males seeking to be The Bachelor.

“I only wanted a fair shot at the part,” said Claybrooks, the then 39-year-old college graduate and electricity company meter reader.

“Looking back at how I was treated at the casting call, it was clear that that wasn’t possible. I never even had a chance.”

It was the first racial discrimination lawsuit filed against a reality show in the US. “We have had various participants of colour throughout the series’ history, and the producers have been consistently — and publicly — vocal about seeking diverse candidates for both programs. As always, we continue to seek out participants of colour for both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette,” read a response from Warner Horizon Television

According to the lawsuit, white applicants are predominantly popular because “minorities in lead roles and interracial dating is unappealing to the shows’ audience.