Former Bachelors and Bachelorettes had been calling for the show to cast a person of color as the lead, and they listened. Executive producers said in a statement exclusive to "Bachelor Nation" on June 12, "We are excited to move forward with both Matt James as the new Bachelor and Clare Crawley as our next Bachelorette. We acknowledge our responsibility for the lack of representation of people of color on our franchise and pledge to make significant changes to address this issue moving forward."

The statement continued, "We are taking positive steps to expand diversity in our cast, in our staff, and most importantly, in the relationships that we show on television. We can and will do better to reflect the world around us and show all of its beautiful love stories."

Rachel Lindsay and Becca Kufrin spoke about the lack of diversity in the franchise on the June 9 episode of "Bachelor Happy Hour" and again one week later. While they both commended the franchise for taking this major step forward, Rachel "didn't really like the rollout of it all."

Becca brought up the point that Matt is best friends with Tyler and became close friends with Hannah during quarantine when she stayed with them in Florida. She asked Rachel if she thought this friendship and his "popularity" played a role in being chosen as the Season 25 Bachelor.

"One hundred percent," Rachel responded. "I think that Matt James is an extremely safe choice, not because you know who he is, because he already comes in with a following attached to two of the most popular people social media-wise in the franchise. It’s a very safe choice to me."

Rachel said during the episode, "I am happy we have a Black Bachelor. I am happy about Matt James. I’m excited to see it. I’m definitely going to support him because why would I not?"

She took issue with "the timing of it" and argued, "I feel like what we saw on 'Good Morning America' only gave us a glimpse as to who Matt James really is, and it almost felt like this is all they wanted us to know about him."

Rachel continued, "All we saw on television is that he’s a Black man, he has a white mother, so he’s biracial, and he’s affiliated with the two most popular people [Tyler Cameron and Hannah Brown] in Bachelor Nation who are white. I feel like that’s all they wanted us to know, and I felt like it was a bit distracting."

The Season 13 Bachelorette is "happy" the show cast a Black Bachelor and that they released the statement about focusing on more diversity in front of and behind the cameras.

Rachel expressed, "I wanted acknowledgment, wanted recognition that things had not been done right in the past. I wanted a vow that we are going to make changes in the future to address the diversity issues and make those internally and with the contestants that come on the show. To me, that speaks louder than having a Black Bachelor, because I feel like we were going to get that anyway in Season 25. I’m very grateful to see that was done."

During his interview on "Good Morning America," Matt said it was "an honor" to be named as the first Black Bachelor.

He also acknowledged Rachel's vocal support for more diversity in the franchise. He said, "When Rachel speaks, we listen. She has a very important voice in all this, being the first black woman, person of color, to have a lead. I think that we’re all filing suit in that conversation and this is hopefully the first of many black men to be in the position that I’m in right now."

In terms of what he's hoping to find on the show, Matt shared, "I’m looking for qualities that my mom embodies, and that’s selfless, honest, caring, compassionate and those are qualities found in women all shapes, sizes and races and it’s not a black or white thing."

To hear more about Becca and Rachel's conversation about the future of the franchise, be sure to tune in to the full "Bachelor Happy Hour" episode now. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!