‘The Bachelorette’ Broke Away From This Major Rule for Ivan Hall’s Date With Tayshia Adams

Tayhsia Adams spent some quality time with Ivan Hall during last night’s episode of The Bachelorette. The contestant won a song-writing competition and earned himself a one-on-one with the lead. Their date was unlike any other date we’ve seen on the show. Here’s why.

‘The Bachelor’ usually doesn’t talk politics

The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have always been famously apolitical.

“A lot of the other producers try to keep it very, you know, politically correct, walk the line. Try to not get anybody too riled up. I think they really wanted everybody to be focused on the world that you are in right now,” Danielle Maltby, a contestant from Nick Viall’s season told Refinery29 in 2018, “That’s kind of what they do.”

Taylor Nolan, also from Viall’s season, told the publication that she was encouraged not to bring up politics during some one-on-one time she had with the lead. She wanted to ask him who he planned on voting for.

“[Producers] were like, ‘No, don’t bring that up, because by the time this airs, the president will already be picked, and that’s a pointless conversation,’” she said.

Sarah Shapiro, a former Bachelor producer and the co-creator of UnREAL, told Refinery29 that she’d often pitch political situations but they were always shut down.

“I kept pitching things, like, what if they had an NPR date? What if they talked to Terry Gross? And people were like, ‘Uh, no,’” she said, adding that most of production is liberal, but The Bachelor audience is largely a different demographic.

“We were definitely playing to the middle of the country,” she said. “I would say it was apolitical centrist, maybe leaning a teeny bit right.”

Tayshia Adams and Ivan Hall talk about Black Lives Matter on ‘The Bachelorette’

But, last night, Tayshia and Ivan had a unique date — at least for The Bachelor franchise. It was a quiet evening involving ordering room service, watching home movies, pretending the floor is lava, and meaningful conversation.

Ivan shared that he’s especially close with his family. He called being a big brother one of the “greatest things” in his life. He spoke about his brother’s time in prison and how it made him “open to people going through things like drugs or alcohol.”

Ivan and Tayshia also spoke about their biracial identities (Ivan’s dad is Black and his mom is Filipino. Tayshia’s dad is Black and her mother is Mexican).

“With George Floyd and police brutality, that’s something that really hit home for me,” Ivan told Tayshia. “It’s changed me as a man.” 

When Tayshia shared her experience growing up in Orange County, Calif., she became emotional.

“I think, being in Orange County surrounded by a lot of people that don’t look like me, being the only person that looks like me, I’m realizing that I’ve been trying so hard my whole life to, like, blend in because I knew I was different,” she said through tears.

Many Bachelor fans appreciated the conversation.

“This is EXACTLY why we needed this representation,” commented one person on YouTube. “Shout out to Ivan and Tayshia for being so real. People need to see this side of people talking about racial issues while being so vulnerable and open on tv more. Yall don’t realize how important this will be for so many people around the world.”