Season 21 of The Bachelorette made headlines when audiences learned that the titular Bachelorette would not only be the first Asian-American leading lady in the show’s 21-year history, but also the first male Asian contestant on the show to ever compete for her heart. However, just four weeks later, Vietnamese-American Thomas Nguyen was eliminated from the show, leaving the show without a rose from Vietnamese-American Bachelorette Jenn Tran in hand.
During his time on the show, Nguyen was portrayed as a villain who constantly fought with fellow contestants such as Devin Strader and Sam Nejad, according to Screen RantIn an Instagram post following his elimination, Nguyen revealed that he was subjected to racist hate online throughout the show’s broadcast.
“For the past five weeks I have received racist slurs, ‘kill yourself, I hope you die’ and every other hateful message in between based on a character you have seen for 10 minutes for over five weeks,” he wrote.
Despite the hate messages, however, Nguyen said he was “blessed” to have been part of the Bachelorette experience. “I have also received soooo much love and support from all of you and that means so much to me and my family that you see through this,” he wrote.
The Bachelorette and the larger Bachelor Franchise has long been criticized for its lack of diversity. After the first episode of the 21st season aired in July, Tran expressed his enthusiasm in a Shine Interview about her and Nguyen’s casting for the show and their disappointment that out of the 25 men cast, only one was Asian.
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“Knowing that my parents immigrated here to give me a better life, the sacrifices they made, and the internal struggle I have to give back to them in every way I can, but still trying to be independent… being a child of immigrant parents is something that not everyone can understand,” Tran said. Shine“And this conversation with Thomas N. really meant the world to me.”
“I can’t really speak to the casting process and the decisions that were made, but it’s unfortunate that there weren’t a lot of Asian men in this season,” she continued. “Asian men haven’t always seen themselves in this position, and I hope that me being here and Thomas N. being there, that we can both inspire other Asian men to realize that they can do this too if they want to.”
