Rachel Lindsay has defended The Bachelor franchise in light of the criticism the show has received from two of its former stars Dylan Barbour and Jed Wyatt.
‘The Bachelor’ Spoilers: Rachel Lindsay Backs The Show Despite Criticism From Dylan Barbour and Jed Wyatt
She told Us Weekly that her experience was anything but bad: “I never felt manipulated. I never felt like I was being taken advantage of. When I see people say that, I’m almost like, ‘That’s on you, that you felt like you fell for that type of scenario. I don’t know if you’re trying to get attention. I’m not sure if, you know, like, you’re trying to excuse some of the decisions you made, but we are all grown people.
“You made those decisions for whatever reason it is. Don’t try to now go blame it on somebody else.'” Nevertheless, Rachel did acknowledge that contestants are on a TV show which has to entertain. She added: “So I might have to keep someone on as a Bachelorette for [a] two-on-one [date], but they never told me who I needed to pick at the end. They never forced me.
“They might’ve said, ‘Hey, you might want to take this person on a date because they have an interesting story,’ but I was never swayed in my decision of who I wanted at the end of all of this.” And another former star of the show, Arie Luyendyk Jr had this to say: “As a lead, I wouldn’t say you have 100 percent control. It is a TV show, so there is going to be aspects of that always to make it entertaining.
“They’re not going to put any words into your mouth. You’re the one saying the things that you said, and so can you be led one way or the other? Yeah, of course. But at the end of the day, you’re the one making the decisions.” These comments are on the back of Dylan, who accused the show of misrepresenting people. He told his fans:
“They need you until they don’t. Each person is a pawn in a larger scheme, and they do not have contestants [sic] best interests in mind. Mental health is not a concern. Multiple people develop issues post-show, and they do nothing to help. If anything, they fuel hate.” And Jed followed in the same light. On his podcast, Jed Talks, he previously said:
“I will actually be going into deeper detail, but the facts are this: That, yes, I was highly manipulated and from it deeply mentally affected from the show, and 2. No, I never cheated. Ever. On [ex-girlfriend] Haley [Stevens] or Hannah.” Let us see how this transpires.
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