First Asian-American Bachelorette looks for love

Jenn Tran can't stop thinking about being the first Asian American lead in the history of "The Bachelor" TV franchise — not that she wants to.

"I think about it every day, all the time. I think if I pushed it aside, that would be such a dishonour to me in who I am because being Asian American, that's me," the 26-year-old tells The Associated Press.

A Vietnamese American woman reigning over Bachelor Nation marks a significant moment for the reality TV dating behemoth.

Historically, fewer roses on "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" have gone to contestants of colour.

The roses that were handed out often came with plenty of thorns, including racist social media commentary.

Tran's season doesn't debut in the US until Monday, but it's already received some criticism for having few suitors of Asian descent.

Still, Tran — who made it to the final six in the last "Bachelor" season starring Joey Graziadei — is embracing her search for love as an opportunity to share her bi-cultural upbringing.

"My mom and I speak a lot of Vietnamese together. And I can't wait for people to see that. That's not something that people have seen before," Tran says.

"The Bachelor" has been a mixed bag when it comes to showcasing Asian cultures.

In 2019, "Bachelor" lead Colton Underwood went on a group date over Singaporean street food.

The mostly white contestants made gagging noises and Colton, who is also white, made a toast "to weird food".

The outing drew some backlash and even a Washington Post column.

Tran, whose season has already completed filming, assures that the show has handled her Vietnamese identity respectfully.

"There is a small scene in the beginning in my intro package where I talk to my family about leaving as a bachelorette and there they cooked a big, big Vietnamese meal," Tran says.

"I hope ... I'm exposing people to something that's different than them. And so that can incite change and that can incite acceptance into people."

Non-white contestants and leads, including black trailblazers Rachel Lindsay and Matt James, have historically been met with hostility from the majority-white Bachelor Nation audience.

Tran hasn't been immune to the same treatment.

She gets racist comments "every day" on Instagram and TikTok, she says.

Her approach is to simply ignore it, though it isn't easy.

"I hope that people are more open-minded and that they open their hearts up," she says.

Tran's star turn has definitely piqued the interest of Asian Americans who don't typically watch "Bachelor" programming.

One is Vi Luong, 27, a Vietnamese American social media influencer/content creator who has only watched "The Golden Bachelor." She's never been interested in the younger incarnations.

"I'd say 90 per cent of my friends are Asian and yeah, they're kind of like in my boat where they've never really cared until now," says Luong, who is based in Irvine, California.

"The bad rhetoric I was seeing was like, 'Oh, she's a diversity hire.' Maybe but, like, I don't think that's a bad thing. ... Tapping into a whole different demographic — I think it's a smart choice."

She's also looking forward to how Tran's mother handles the boyfriend meet-and-greets.

"This is where I'm like, 'Oh, this might get really interesting,'" Luong says.

"If there's something you have to know about Vietnamese people, is we are very, very blunt people, very direct people, especially our parents' generation."