For the first time in years, The Bachelor franchise had not one, not two, but multiple contestants of Asian descent who were prominent contenders.

Historically, there have been a handful of Asian participants who have made it to later rounds in the show. But in most seasons, there are few — if any — Asian contestants across both The Bachelor and Bachelorette. Those who are cast are often eliminated early, sidelined as supporting characters, or reduced to meek stereotypes. Tammy Ly, a fan favorite from the 24th season, has spoken about how she felt “alienated” by the franchise and treated as a secondary character because she didn’t fit a white ideal of beauty.

The Bachelor franchise has long been critiqued for its overwhelmingly white casting, storylines that amplify discriminatory tropes, and high-profile contestants who’ve made racist statements. In recent seasons, the show has attempted to address these disparities — with mixed results. Notably, ABC cast its first Black Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay, in 2017, and it has sought to diversify its contestant pool in the years since. As Rachel Lindsay and other contestants have emphasized, however, the changes to casting alone haven’t been sufficient to combat systemic issues the franchise suffers from, onscreen and behind the scenes.

The most recent season, its 28th, revealed how The Bachelor still struggles with many of these problems even as it took some small steps forward. In showcasing a diverse group of Asian women, the show introduced new perspectives on everything from growing up in an immigrant household to cultural family traditions, viewpoints that haven’t been highlighted much on its platform. It still fell short, however, in grappling with the discrimination that its contestants of color face and confronting conversations about the need to explicitly call out racism.

Five women of Asian descent stayed late into the current season as both popular contenders and villains. Notably, a few of these women — Rachel Nance, an ICU nurse from Hawaii, of Filipino and African American descent; and Jenn Tran, a physician’s assistant student from Florida, of Vietnamese descent — were among the final six contestants, a development that makes it more likely that one of them could get picked as the lead for a following season. (Typically, the show selects its next star based on the women or men who don’t “win” from the prior season.)

Featuring more Asian contestants on the show — and highlighting them — has not only helped dispel stereotypes, but also enabled portrayals that were more multidimensional and human. Having an Asian lead — a long overdue first for both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette — would bring even more representation to the reality TV giant, expand the universe of stories that it tells, and provide new visibility to members of a group that have long been underrepresented in media.

Telling people’s stories counters stereotypes and humanizes them

The Bachelor franchise’s history of quickly dropping candidates of color, including Asian contestants, is so well-known it has spurred satirical spinoffs like WongFu Production’s “Asian Bachelorette,” in which nearly all the contestants are of Asian descent.

In past seasons, there were usually one or two Asian contestants, though few advanced to later episodes, with Catherine Giudici, Ivan Hall, Caila Quinn, Ethan Kang and Serena Pitt among the handful of exceptions.

Additionally, if they aren’t eliminated early, contestants of color typically get less screen time than white contestants. And when they have appeared, some of their storylines have exacerbated old tropes, including ideas of Asian women as docile or hypersexual.

In season 24 of The Bachelor, for example, Marylynn Sienna is effectively used by a white woman named Victoria Larson to advance her storyline. Larson arbitrarily accuses Marylynn of being “toxic,” forcing her to defend herself in the face of a bully. In Season 10 of The Bachelor, a Cambodian American woman named Channy Choch debuted on the show by inviting the lead to have sex with her in Cambodian, later noting that he needed to catch “Cambodian fever.”

By putting real time and investment into Asian contestants’ storylines, this season has delivered more nuanced depictions of their experiences and the chance to see more humanized narratives.

Rachel’s hometown date with Bachelor Joey Graziadei, a milestone that takes place near the end of the season when the lead meets a contestant’s family, was a vibrant glimpse of how Filipino and Hawaiian culture have shaped her. Prior to the visit, Rachel informs Joey that he should touch her mother’s hand to his forehead when they meet, a gesture known as “Mano po,” which conveys respect. And during the date, Rachel’s family warmly receives him with a roast pig in the backyard and schools him on a Filipino courtship tradition.

Rachel has also discussed her upbringing in Hawaii as a mixed-race person, offering a perspective that’s rarely been highlighted on the show, and emphasizing how her family has blended different cultures. “Growing up as a mixed girl in Hawaii, there wasn’t many people who looked like me on TV,” she said in a People interview. “I’m very honored that moving forward, girls can say, ‘Hey, if Rachel can do that, I can do that. If Rachel can speak her truth, I can speak her truth.’”

Another moving moment this season centered on Jenn and her description of the trauma she experienced growing up in a dysfunctional household. In one scene, Jenn spoke candidly about the conflict in her immigrant family, prompting what she’s said has been an outpouring from fans who have similar backgrounds. While on a one-on-one date with Joey, Jenn described how her parents often had volatile fights when she was a kid and how her relationship with her father has deteriorated in the years since as a result.

“I wanna acknowledge the comments and DMs I’ve been getting from people who say that they can relate to my story and I just want to say that I’m so sorry you can relate,” Jenn said in a TikTok post. “It felt so nice to hear another Viet woman go through the same generational trauma that I went through,” one of the top commenters on the post wrote.

Both Nance and Tran also received “hot seats,” or special interviews, in the recent “Women Tell All” episode, often a sign ABC is considering them as potential leads. Nance was known on the show for her level-headed energy, commitment to her career, and “slow burn” relationship with Joey, while Tran’s bubbly personality, openness to adventure, and a playful connection were her signature. Both women, who were eliminated in recent weeks, were charismatic contenders and would be compelling future stars.

Being able to see an array of Asian women depicted this season was significant as well because it highlighted a wide spectrum of personalities. In addition to Rachel and Jenn, who were portrayed more prominently as frontrunners focused on vying for Joey’s affections, Katelyn DeBacker, a radiochemist from New Mexico of Vietnamese descent, was seen as bringing her quirk and humor to the show, and Madina Alam, a therapist of Bangladeshi descent, was synonymous with her thoughtful and considerate responses to the bizarre drama swirling around her. Lea Cayanan, an account manager from Hawaii who is of Filipino descent, also received what is known in Bachelor parlance as a “villain edit,” in a way barrier-breaking in itself.

After dueling with fellow contestant Maria Georgas — a white executive assistant from Ontario, Canada — Lea became associated with causing drama and coming off as a “mean girl.” While her actions were far from laudable, it was interesting to see an Asian woman embrace the role of the villain after years of other portrayals as submissive sidekicks. That said, when you distill that storyline to its essence, she was still used to draw a contrast with a white counterpart, a problematic plot point of its own.

It’s uncommon to see Asian women depicted in pop culture in a way that’s more complicated and messy, NPR’s Deepa Shivaram previously wrote about Devi, the protagonist of the Netflix show Never Have I Ever.

Harleen Singh, director of the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University, emphasized that representation and the breaking of stereotypes require the chance for people to be their full selves and not just an ideal that’s been set out for them. “It’s … [the ability] to just be human beings who have errors, who have wants, who are contradictory. Pardon my French, but to f*** up as much as anybody else,” Singh previously told NPR.

Contestants have also forced discussions about racism

Asian contestants have also used their platforms to force conversations about racism that would otherwise be left poorly addressed by a franchise ill-equipped to confront them.

One of the early examples of this was tied to a mistake that The Bachelor’s social media accounts made in January, when it tagged the wrong Asian person in an Instagram post. In a photo of Jenn kissing Joey, The Bachelor account instead tagged Lea. That mistake then sparked a discussion about how Asian people have been confused for one another in different settings, including the workplace, and how dehumanizing those errors can be.

In response to the mix-up, Jenn posted a TikTok video sharing an experience of how a nurse she worked with wasn’t able to tell her apart from another Asian staff member, despite having known each other for a year. “The issue at hand is not that you can’t tell me apart from different Asians, it’s the fact that you don’t care,” Jenn said in the video.

It’s a problem that’s so commonplace that designer Linh-Yen Hoang has released a pithy pin that simply reads, “Wrong Asian.” And while people often brush off such actions as honest mistakes, they essentially suggest that Asian people are interchangeable, reaffirming tropes that Asian people are a monolithic group devoid of individuality.

“Whether the person acted without malice, the effect is the same: It erases my body of work for someone else’s, simply because their ancestors were born on the same continent as mine,” Washington Post reporter Michelle Ye Hee Lee wrote in 2019. “It tells me that my place in journalism — and that of the other Asian reporter they confused me for — is dispensable, interchangeable and indistinguishable.”

Jenn’s and Lea’s perspectives were ultimately invaluable in having a deeper conversation about this mishap and in drawing attention to a widespread issue that some may write off as trivial. “Until we have a world stage and a media platform that is representative of the world we come from and the communities that make it up, I think we will always have a ways to go,” Lea stated in her response.

During the “Women Tell All” episode, Rachel also spoke about racism she’s faced from viewers of the show, revealing that people have bombarded her with messages calling her the “N-word” and “jungle Asian.” Many of these attacks came after Rachel was chosen to move forward as one of the final three contestants instead of Maria, who has accrued a large fanbase.

Rachel’s comments have renewed attention to the racism within the Bachelor fandom and the harassment that contestants of color, in particular, have faced.

That conversation showed, too, how much work the show still needs to do to protect its contestants and to thoughtfully handle the subject. Rather than specifically addressing the racism that Rachel experienced, for instance, host Jesse Palmer quickly pivoted to asking the rest of the cast if they had received “hateful” comments in a follow-up to her remarks. In doing so, he glossed over the specific racism she was experiencing and sought to broaden the focus to more general harassment that the cast of women has faced.

“It is part of my Asian culture to remain quiet, always be respectful, and apologize first. No more,” Rachel wrote in an Instagram post. “ It is time that we speak up. To all my minorities… speak up and speak loud.”

Whether it’s offering viewers a window into their personalities and upbringings, or vocally condemning enduring racism in the franchise, the contestants of this season have brought new voices to a tired show. Leads on the show, in particular, also send a message about who has agency in these relationships, and who’s deserving of this chance to find love. Casting Rachel or Jenn as the next Bachelorette would be a huge opportunity to keep these conversations going — and reframe that narrative.