Entertainment
New Zealand showing the world how it’s done as Bachelor demands ‘multicultural, multi-size’ cast before joining show
In just another way New Zealand is leading the world, it’s emerged the man selected to be the country’s current star on The Bachelor demanded both a culturally and physically diverse cast before he would even entertain the idea of signing up for the programme.
This is the kind of place Jacinda Ardern has made, people, and reality shows should take note.
Opera singer Moses Mackay is in the hot seat and throwing out all the roses in NZ as the latest series of the dating show launched recently, with the ladies vying for his affections also revealed.
But before he said yes to the role, that we can imagine many a man would be lining up to do, the 30-year-old Kiwi had one condition for producers.
Previously speaking to 1 News, he said he wanted ‘ladies that best represent New Zealand’, not ones TV producers wanted to be good for the series.
He explained: ‘I said the only reason why I would actually consider doing it is if you would be interested in making it a diverse cast, and so I would love to see a multi-sized, multicultural [group].’
Moses was keen to ‘see ladies that best represent New Zealand and not just look the same, same, same as possibly other seasons have been’.
He went on: ‘I said “if you’re willing to go through that route and try and change those stereotypes… now I’m interested, now I’m listening”.’
Wanting to switch things up, he added: ‘I think that anything in terms of breaking down those stereotypes and creating new ways of being, I’m interested and that was my thinking behind me wanting to do it.’
And it seems viewers are on board, as one brilliantly mused on social media: ‘If you want to know what New Zealand’s all about just watch this season’s Bachelor.
‘The girls are different races, creeds & sizes. The bachelor told the girl on his first date she had a booger in her nose & the girls are always building each other up.’
It’s just another way the country is lapping us all in awesomeness (main note probably being the country essentially being back to normal amid the coronavirus pandemic) with Bachelor’s international counterparts still clearly falling short when it comes to its casting.
How do other countries stack up?
New Zealand’s Bachelor neighbour in Australia has sported a cast that has been 84% white in the past two years (according to number crunching by the Guardian, that’s 95 out of 113 contestants to appear on The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Bachelor In Paradise), despite 24% of the population being Indigenous or non-European.
That comes amid a call for change in the US, as backlash surrounding the ABC franchise reached new heights in recent weeks, after host Chris Harrison was forced to apologise after making comments that ‘perpetuated racism’ during an interview with Rachel Lindsay – the first Black woman to be appointed The Bachelorette in 2017.
He’s currently taking time away from the show, who had finally cast its first Black bachelor in Matt James.
Chris’s comments followed photos which emerged of front runner Rachael Kirkconnell in attendance at a ‘plantation-themed fraternity party’ in 2018, while fans found that she had also worn fancy dress costumes which some claimed was cultural appropriation.
Rachel had also been at the center of claims that she bullied a schoolmate for dating a Black man and liking posts of friends who believe in Donald Trump’s MAGA sentiments.
She has since apologised twice, calling her actions – which also included liking a post that included Confederate flags and MAGA items in the background – ‘racist and offensive’.
Still, people are voting with their remotes, with the show reportedly shedding more than 1million viewers amid the controversy. It followed US network CBS pledging to ensure 50% of cast on its unscripted shows would be made up of Black and Indigenous People Of Colour.
Even away from The Bachelor franchise, punters have been calling for actual, proper diversity in reality show casting with Love Island South Africa promising to so as such after its incredibly whitewashed contestants were unveiled recently.
In the UK, Would I Lie To You? was also recently called out for featuring just one non-white comedian in the latest series.
This is a drop in the ocean, but here’s hoping NZ’s Bachelor’s push for diversity is a sign of things to come.
