Michelle Young, runner-up on Matt James’ season of The Bachelor, is back for her own journey to find love, taking on the Bachelorette title on Tuesday. Young, a former Division I basketball player turned elementary school teacher, was a late addition to James’ season but quickly became a fan favorite and is now helming a historic second Bachelorette season this year, following Katie Thurston’s run this summer.
Her first go-around was steeped in controversy, from winner Rachael Kirkconnell’s racially insensitive social media posts to Chris Harrison’s franchise exit after coming to Kirkconnell’s defense; in response, ABC and producers Warner Horizon promised to increase the show’s diversity and add a person of color to its executive producer ranks. This season marks an execution of that commitment, with Jodi Baskerville named in August as the franchise’s first-ever Black executive producer.
Young will herself become the third Bachelorette of color, behind Rachel Lindsay and (now cohost) Tayshia Adams; it is also the first time a Bachelor has been selected for the following cycle before the current season has even aired, with the future Bachelor rumored to be contestant Clayton Echard.
Now, with her season about to begin, Young talks to The Hollywood Reporter about why she returned to the show, how she was impacted by behind-the-scenes changes, and what lies ahead as she hands out the roses.
You signed on when the franchise was going through controversy and having two Bachelorettes for the first time. Why did you say yes?
I think the biggest reason of why I said yes is because how the process challenges you as a person to open up, to stay vulnerable, all of these different things. I knew that I could potentially find my person, and walking into that, I also knew that I’d be able to truly represent who I am — who I am as a woman of color, who I am as a teacher and just carry myself in the same way that I always would. That took a lot of pressure off my shoulders, just because regardless of everything that was going on around me, I know that I was able to stay focused.
What was most important to you about being the Bachelorette, and your goal going in other than obviously finding love?
Number one, yes, to find my person. But number two, to just showcase diverse love stories. Walking into it, I didn’t have this type of “this is what my person physically has to look like.” And being able to have other young women of color, girls of color, be able to turn on their TV screens and be able to see somebody who looks like them is not something that happens often whatsoever. And so to give them that opportunity, to be that for even just one other person, I think is incredibly important.
Matt James’ season, your intro to the franchise, was problematic, particularly for contestants of color. What was your experience like as a contestant?
It was a lot in the sense of a lot of the things that took place, honestly, started to unravel once the filming was over. There was a lot of heavy conversation, there’s a lot of conversations that needed to be had, and it was something that could become completely consumable. It was just this period of time where you had to make sure to take care of yourself because you want to stand up for what you believe in, and there’s some times where you also have to disconnect from the drama of all that’s going on because you have to make sure that you’re staying balanced. I was still teaching and I was still expected to walk into a classroom and teach the future. It was a heavy season and definitely took a minute to hit that reset button and be able to recharge.
Would you have liked to have more behind-the-scenes support at that time, or were there some things that would have made the experience better?
What I will say is that I felt like I was given the support that I needed. With just handling different situations and being able to sort through your emotions, I felt very supported by the producers and everyone who reached out to me. And then coming back to my season, it was all hands on deck. There was never a moment where I truly felt that the people I was working with didn’t have my best interest, or if I had questions or concerns, I felt like I was heard in those situations.
What concerns did you have in taking this on? Did you have the opportunity to ask for specific changes?
I think when you’re making any big life decisions, there’s pros and cons that you’re thinking about, regardless of what the situation is, but I ultimately felt like I could truly find my person through this and I could also give back and be a role model and so that’s why I said yes. But with that, I also made it very clear that I was going to stick to who I am. And if I ever felt in a situation [that] there was a time where it was contradicting who I was, I wouldn’t do it or I would vocalize that that’s something that I don’t stand for. And so I never wavered from who I was throughout the season.
How did Tayshia and Kaitlyn support you throughout the season?
Kaitlyn and Tayshia were absolutely amazing. You have two women who have been through the situation that I was currently going through at that time, and it’s a very unique situation where you are dating 30 men and that’s not normal. You’re going to have these abnormal feelings and you’re going to fall for multiple people and develop feelings for multiple people; there’s going to be drama and all of this stuff is going on. To have two women — and have one of those be a woman of color — who have gone through this before, they were really able to give me hands-on advice with things, they were able to validate my feelings and allow me to feel heard so that I could continue to move in the right direction.
The franchise brought on an executive producer of color, Jodi Baskerville, for the first time this season. How notable were those changes as you were filming and how did that impact your experience?
What’s so hard is this is my first time being a lead and I don’t have anything else to compare to it. But what I did have is I had a gauge of what I was willing to do, what I was not, what had me wavering from who I am. Having Jodi there, having another woman of color, if there’s any time something was concerning or I just wanted to talk about something, she was right there to do that with me, who can make me feel heard, as well as to sit down and have conversations and bring everybody else into those conversations as well. And so I felt like with that, the story is going to be told accurately, is going to be told in a way that all walks of life can understand, but is really going to showcase those diverse love stories.
Do you think viewers will see differences on the show from these behind-the-scenes changes?
After that first night you’re gonna see just how diverse that cast is. And I’m a person who doesn’t shy away from the hard questions, whether the cameras happened to be there or not. Whether I’m dating publicly or off camera, I think it’s really important to have those conversations and ask those hard questions because they are important to have this open line of communication and discussion. And so you’re going to see those conversations be had in multiple different perspectives and you’re going to see emotion start to occur based off of those conversations. I think it ended up being a very, very beautiful thing.
In recent seasons the show has utilized diversity consultants, did they play into your journey at all?
Honestly, no. I would say that, yes, those are resources that are there for you, typically after the show but beforehand — being in Minnesota, being a teacher in Minnesota, teaching many students of color, I just was in a good spot to move forward and to be able to handle that piece. I know that if I needed assistance that I would have Jodi, would have other resources at my disposal, but definitely felt confident but also open to navigating that as it comes.
Being a teacher now back at school, how do you feel about students and students’ parents watching this season?
I can’t sit here and say that it’s not gonna be uncomfortable or doesn’t cross my mind at times. But what I can say is that there’s a social stigma that being a teacher means that that’s all you are — that’s who you are inside the classroom, that’s who you are outside the classroom, you cannot have a life outside of that. And what I would say to that is that is 100 percent untrue. In fact, the best teachers are the teachers who stay balanced because they’re able to take care of their needs and also go back into the classroom and be the best version of themselves. I stayed true to who I was, I was genuine, kept it classy but yeah there is going to be a romantic component to that. I wasn’t necessarily a PDA person, believe it or not, coming into this. So it definitely challenged my comfort zone a little bit but eventually, I was able to kind of give up control to that and just enjoy this experience and truly fall. And I think that families, students, supporters, Bachelor Nation, whoever’s watching is going to see a genuine person unfolding on the screen.
I’m sure the kids are excited.
They’re very excited. They try to ask questions quite frequently, but we definitely stick to just talking about Miss Young in the classroom and not Michelle the Bachelorette.
How would you describe your contestants and the top men this season?
There is so much diversity. Every single guy that steps out of that limo, you are going to see that they are drastically different from the next one. I had no idea that there were just so many different types of wonderful people. I’m excited for everybody to just be able to learn about everyone and to be able to see all these different personalities and characteristics and stories. It’s been really cool getting to know everyone, and I’m really excited for the world to get to know everyone.
For the first time we know the next Bachelor is coming out of your season before we’ve even met him. What did you think about that being revealed and being somewhat of a spoiler?
What I can say is that I feel like reality TV was probably a lot easier before social media started with all the spoilers and everything; they are unavoidable. All the men who are on my season, just so many different wonderful people, so many different genuine good people and people there for the right reasons. And so I think that you’ll start to see that as his story unfolds on my season.
How do you feel coming out the other side of this? Did you find what you’re looking for?
Coming into it there are the nerves, you’re anxious, you’re not sure how everything’s gonna turn out, but what I tried to do is just enjoy every minute, positive, negative, all of it so that when I got to the end, I would be happy with how I handled the situations and I would hopefully have what I’m looking for. But I love where I’m at, I am excited for everyone to see everything unfold and the whole entire journey, the good part, the hard parts. I’m just excited for things to kick off.
Interview has been edited for length and clarity. The Bachelorette airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC, starting Oct. 19.
Source: Hollywood
