Rachel Lindsay 'bored' with white 'Bachelor' casting

Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Rachel Lindsay says she's "bored" with The Bachelor's largely white cast.

The 34-year-old television personality reacted to Peter Weber being named the next Bachelor over Mike Johnson during Wednesday's episode of her Bachelor Happy Hour with Rachel & Ali podcast.

"I think Peter seems like a super sweet guy ... I am not saying he won't be a great Bachelor," Lindsay said. "But I have to say that I'll be watching this season through a lens of sadness."

ABC announced Tuesday that Weber will star in The Bachelor Season 24. Johnson, who was a contestant with Weber on Hannah Brown's season of The Bachelorette, would have been the first African-American Bachelor.

Lindsay herself was the first African-American Bachelorette, starring in Season 13 in 2017. She expressed her frustration with Weber's casting and the franchise as a whole.

"Mike Johnson should have been the Bachelor of Season 24, period," Lindsay said. "It's time. It's bigger than a Peter. We have seen so many seasons of Peter. I just feel like now's the time for something different."

"I feel like there's a bigger problem here, there's a bigger issue," she added. "In 2019, it disappoints me that the Bachelor franchise does not reflect reality. It's not reflective of what the real world looks like or what real-life relationships look like."

Lindsay said she's "bored" with the franchise's homogenous cast and feeling less excited to watch new seasons.

"To be honest, I'm bored. I'm not necessarily bored with the drama ... but I'm bored with the cast and I'm bored with the way they look like," she said. "I'm sorry, vanilla is not the only flavor of dessert that's out there, flavor of dessert. White is not the only color in the crayon box, but when you watch Bachelor Nation or Bachelor franchise, that is what we see when it pertains to leads."

Lindsay shared similar sentiments in an interview with Entertainment Tonight on Tuesday.

"I'm sure they have some reason for not picking [Johnson], and I'm going to trust in that, but at the same time, the system isn't working in giving us a Bachelor who is a person of color. So we need to change the system," she said.

The Bachelor Season 24 premieres on ABC in January.