Former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay Wants to Know Why Becca Kufrin Got a Better Ending
Rachel Lindsay is arguably one of the most popular Bachelorette stars in the history of the franchis..
Rachel Lindsay is arguably one of the most popular Bachelorette stars in the history of the franchise—but shes not thrilled with the edit she and her fiancé, Bryan Abasolo, received during her season last year. As she recapped Becca Kufrins finale this week, Lindsay noted stark differences between how her story and Beccas story were told. As Rachel sees it, Becca was given an unambiguously happy ending, the sort that Rachel wishes played out on screen between her and Bryan—and whats more, Becca was “protected,” while she was exploited.
Rachel recapped Beccas season in full for Us Weekly, but her finale coverage took a turn even she didnt expect. “I thought I would talk about Garrett and the equator, Blakes tears in a washcloth, or Beccas stunning Randi Rahm couture gown,” Rachel wrote. “But watching Beccas finale brought about a range of emotions that I was not expecting.” Beccas decision to choose Garrett Yrigoyen over Blake Horstmann was a controversial one, largely thanks to Garretts troublesome history of liking bigoted posts on Instagram. Still, Rachel noted, “you are not at all confused as to why Becca chose Garrett. You get it. You may not agree with her decision but you saw the progression of her love story. . . It all made sense.”
As far as Rachel is concerned, the same cannot be said for her own love story with Bryan. Rachel criticized her own Bachelorette finale for focusing too heavily on her break-up with runner-up Peter Kraus. Because of that, Rachel wrote, “I think it is fair to say that I was denied my on-camera happy ending.”
“Do I sound a little pissed off?” Rachel continued. “Well that is because I am. . . Becca did not sit on stage for three hours and watch the finale for the first time in front of a live audience. Becca did not have to deal with someone telling her she would live a mediocre life. Becca did not have to deal with being baited with real time questions about her emotions watching certain scenes. Nope, that was me.”
Like Becca, Rachel was given a three-hour season finale—but hers unfolded a little differently. Rachel watched the episode play out in front of a live audience; Becca, in contrast, emerged halfway through the episode, and did not have to watch her break-up with Blake publicly. All told, Beccas season capper was a lot breezier than Rachels, which spent nearly an hour parsing her truly agonizing break-up with Peter—during which he cruelly told her to “go find someone to have a mediocre life with”—before moving on to her happy ending.
In fairness, The Bachelorettes gentle treatment of Becca might at least partially stem from criticism of that intense Bachelor season finale earlier this year, which gave Arie Luyendyk Jr.s jilted runner-up her own Bachelorette season in the first place; after all, how many public humiliations can one woman take? Still, Rachel writes, “Becca did not have the finale that I had. There was no controversy and she was not put in a position to face any. She was protected and I was placed on display for three hours and labeled an angry black female. And there will always be that stigma attached to my finale because it has been said that when truth is blurred by misinformation, perception becomes reality and all is lost.”
Representatives for Warner Bros. Television, which produces The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, did not immediately respond to V.F.s request for comment. In a phone call with reporters on Tuesday, however, Becca delivered her own response: “To be quite honest I didnt remember that that even happened last year, but every show format is a little bit different,” Kufrin said. “You know last [season], we had the two-night finale where they showed the breakup and then everything after that in two nights, so I think its just always different. I dont really have much of a say in that.”
The Bachelor machine might have historically thrived on this kind of drama, but in a broader sense, the franchise is in trouble. Beccas finale was a disappointing ending to an underwhelming season—a fact thats starkly apparent in the ratings. The finale might have netted a season high in viewership, but it still represented a 12 percent drop from the viewership from Rachels finale last year. Ratings across the franchise have been dropping for years, and at this point, barring some drastic changes, the trend seems likely to continue. So Rachels complaint about edits might not be too far off the mark; at the very least, it might be a good place for producers to start as they consider how to save an apparently dying franchise.
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