*Rachel Lindsay made history as America’s first Black bachelorette and one of the few couples to get married. She sits down with I Heart Radio on-air personality Jazmyn ‘Jaz’ Summers and host of EURweb Spotlight to dish on life now.
“When I did ‘The Bachelorette’ never did I think that this is where I would be, you know, you don’t? I didn’t have the vision to see like, oh, you know, I would be working for ‘Extra.’ Oh, I would find my husband or Oh, I would have the impact that I did by being the first Black bachelorette. None of it. I am still enjoying every minute of it. I am grateful. And I can’t wait to see what happens next with everything.”
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There have been over 40 episodes of The Bachelor and the Bachelorette, and only 16 couples are still standing. Of those, only 6 actually put a ring on it. Rachel and hubby , former Miami based chiropractor, Bryan Abasolo are one of them. They tied the knot in August 2019 in Mexico and are still going strong. They initially embraced a long-distance relationship — she lived in Los Angeles, and he lived in Miami — Abasolo moved to LA in 2021.
“I mean, honestly, compromise is the secret. Friendship is the secret. Laughter is the secret Trust, really all of it, “she dishes to Jaz. “I’m very fortunate that Brian is so supportive of what I want to do, and I try to return that support in the same way. I think being so public with our relationship the secret in that was stepping away. As soon as we got in control of our relationship, and the cameras were away. We got to know each other in real life.”
“I went back to work in Dallas, Brian moved to Dallas with me,” she shares. “We visited his family. And we really did things out of the spotlight. Because I think we needed to know one another away from the camera. I needed to know him, and how he functioned in real life with his friends and his family and his aspirations and all of that. And when couples come off the show and ask, we tell them that same thing. It’s so easy to get tempted by the opportunities and move to LA or New York or Nashville these days. That’s where everyone goes. And so much is thrown at you because you’re THE couple. So at the end of the day, what’s real?”
Next steps for the love birds?
“We definitely want to have children. I’m at that place where we’re not not trying but we’re not trying at the same time. And you know, it’s kind of like if it happens, it happens. But then I get stuck in a place where I’m like okay, I’m ready. Oh no, I’m terrified. But what do they say? If it doesn’t make you scared it’s not worth doing it,” Rachel tells EURweb Spotlight.
Rachel admits she used to be a party girl. “Party all night. Get home. Take a 15-minute nap go back to work,” she says.
The partying is a lot less now but…….
“I still have a good time,” she reveals. “My friend was in town this past weekend from Dallas. And we’re putting on the music like we’re back in the 2000s on the college campus. I party in small bits and pieces. I like to have a good time that’s not going anywhere but I try not to do too much because I’m not trying to scratch that itch. Bryan is a solid chill guy. I’m an extroverted extrovert. Bryan is an introvert and it works. And it’s the balance. But the great thing about our relationship is, if I’m like, Bryan, let’s go do this. He’s always game. He’s always down to go.”
Rachel says they haven’t had a lot of challenges being in an interracial relationship.
“People don’t necessarily look at him and see him as a Latino man, even though he is but I dealt with so many other issues on the show, I thought it was going to be a huge issue, but it wasn’t or maybe I didn’t notice if there was any criticism. Obviously, I hear it here and there. I hear it more, as there are other contestants of color. So they’re constantly comparing us, which is so unfair. Because of all the bachelorettes when it comes to a black woman as a Bachelorette, or even Matt Jane as a black lead, like mentally, they’re always comparing Oh, Rachel did this Oh, Matt James did this. So Rachel chose someone outside of her race. Matt James did as well. So when are we gonna get Black love? And it’s like, but I am Black. it is Black love. It’s frustrating that they try to take that away from you? I asked Bryan certain questions before I said yes to accepting his proposal. And so I was pretty firm on where he stood. And even in light of 2020, with all the social injustice we saw come to light, the racial awakening people had all of a sudden, we were already prepared for that. You hear those interracial couples that are like, ‘Oh, well, we never had a conversation before.’ That was not us. We had already talked about it like we deal with anything else in our relationship.”
“I’m fortunate that because Bryan is Colombian when I went to Colombia a couple of months ago to his cousin’s wedding, and I loved it, I was able to see the depth and the richness of his culture and meet his extended family and see that they are all colors, shapes, sizes, everything. There’s such a diaspora and diversity when it comes to us (people of color) in Colombia.”
Right now the couple is focusing on keeping their love strong and their careers. Bryan is co-hosting the podcast “Talking It Out” with “Bachelor Nation” fan favorite Mike Johnson.
Rachel is hosting and a correspondent with “Extra,” just got on Tik Tok, and has a podcast and a column on Facebook Bulletin called Ask Rach where she tackles everything from love to politics to women’s rights.
“I love it. Every day is an adventure. I mean, I’m literally gonna leave you right now and go to a red carpet. Carpets are opening back up so we’re getting to have these face-to-face conversations we get to bring to the show, which is great because I think everybody’s a little tired of zoom these days. We’re getting that in-person connection and those interviews, I still do my podcast ‘Higher Learning’ which is so great because we get to talk about politics and current affairs and sports and how it impacts the culture.”
As for her famous interview with Chris Harrison, former host of the “Bachelorette” who was canned for alleged racism, he recently erased his Instagram including the black square hashtag he had posted to observe, mourn, and bring about change in the wake of the death of George Floyd.
“I mean, this is what I’ll say,” Rachel comments. “He removed the black square before he even erased his entire Instagram. So there’s that But he erased everything. So you know, it’s hard for me to say, he erased everything and just started over. And, you know, that’s his decision. I think he said it was a new chapter. But I’m a person who’s like, actions speak louder than words. So you know, we’ll have to see how he handles things. Right? What did the new chapter leave behind? We’ll have to wait and see.”
Check out the full convo in the video at the top. We dive into the shocking interview she did with former Bachelorette host Chris Harrison, her take on his alleged racism now, her secret crush on Lenny Kravitz and explore the full 360 degrees of Rachel. And please don’t forget to subscribe to Jaz’s YouTube channel.
Interview/article by Jazmyn Summers. Follow her @jaztalk1 on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. Video editing by www.patrickhousefilms.com
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