The first and most important news out of The Bachelorette: Men Tell All was, of course, that Dean Unglert is a clear favorite and would be perfect as the next Bachelor.
We already knew that, because we have sense.
Rachel Lindsay, looking back on Men Tell All and the entire season of The Bachelorette, is admitting that she regrets one decision — and would do it differently if she could.
In an interview with Us Weekly, Rachel Lindsay says that if she could go back and change one thing, she would have kicked one of the suitors to the curb way, way sooner:
“If I’m just honest, I’m going to be 100 percent honest, I’m just going to say one word: Lee.”
That would be Lee Garrett, folks.
You know, the one who got slammed for racism.
“I would have sent him home sooner.”
We should hope so.
You might think that the first black lead on The Bachelorette (shameful that it took so many seasons, by the way) wouldn’t be an inviting bride for, you know, racists.
But racism and reality television are both much, much more complicated than that.
First of all, not everyone goes on reality dating shows to find the love of their life.
They can’t all win, and they go into the show knowing this.
Getting to appear on another show in the Bachelor Nation or even just getting more social media followers an exposure is an amazing opportunity.
So long as they make a good impression.
Lee Garrett did not seem like a good guy — we’re not sure what he was hoping for, unless he thought that The Bachelor was going to cast him to court Trump fans or something.
As far as the idea of a racist guy trying to win the heart of a black woman goes, well, racism doesn’t make people blind.
Having black friends doesn’t mean that someone isn’t racist.
Having a black girlfriend or wife doesn’t mean that someone isn’t racist.
(And yes, that gets extra screwed up when children enter the mix and one of their parents has all of these prejudices that apply to them, too)
So … it’s sadly no surprise that Lee Garrett was competing for Rachel Lindsay’s hand.
If you remember from our The Bachelorette: Men Tell All recap, Rachel Lindsay was part of calling out Lee Garrett for racism.
During the special, Lee Garrett tried to defend his actions, which really didn’t help.
During The Bachelorette, he kept getting into heated conflicts with other suitors.
Those other suitors tended to have something in common with each other — they were black.
Fans noticed.
Just about everybody noticed.
Lee’s excuse that he was “uncomfortable” and trying to “joke” to excuse his behavior … didn’t go over well.
Lee wasn’t only controversial for his actions on The Bachelorette — he also got into trouble for his antics on social media before he even went on the show.
Specifically, Lee Garrett’s racist tweets landed him in hot water with fans and on Men Tell All.
(Dude, even if you’re going to tweet super offensive stuff for whatever reason, maybe go delete them before you become famous)
They weren’t even old tweets that someone dug up — they were from within the last year.
There’s just no excuse.
Considering what those of you following The Bachelorette Spoilers already know, there are plenty of fans who think that Rachel Lindsay made a bigger mistake than letting Lee Garrett hang around.
Not everyone, to be clear.
But more than a few.
Actually, you don’t even need spoilers to know that sending Dean Unglert home before narrowing her suitors down to three was positively foolish.
But Lee Garrett had to go, as much because he and she clearly wouldn’t work out as to demonstrate to viewers how unacceptable he was.
But, you know, hindsight is always clearer.
And Rachel Lindsay didn’t know as much about Lee Garrett at the beginning of the series as she does now.
In many ways, if there were viewers who saw some of themselves in Lee Garrett and his excuses, maybe his example served as a wake-up call to them about their own choices and behaviors.
Still, we wonder if, in a year or so, Rachel Lindsay won’t have a larger regret about this season.
