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Catherine Giudici Lowe did not expect to capture the heart of her now-husband and then-Bachelor star Sean Lowe.
In an Instagram post on Sunday, June 7, Giudici Lowe reflected on her time on The Bachelor, and admitted that she felt the only reason she was chosen to be cast in the show was so it included diversity.
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“When I was originally cast, I was very flattered but somewhat grounded by the fact that I would be one of the faces that represented people of color. I knew that one of the reasons I was probably chosen was because I was Filipino,” the 34-year-old former Bachelor contestant began.
“I counted myself out to be his fiancée because of what I assumed Sean liked,” she added.
“I thought I was there just to check a box, but I ended up with so much more,” Giudici Lowe continued. “I became present with the process and as he started noticing me for who I really was, I allowed this experience to open myself up to the possibility of being fully loved and appreciated for all that I was. I ended up getting to represent a mixed race community, I found Christ (I LOVE my testimony!) and marrying the most amazing man I’ve ever known. I’d say doing this show was one of the best things that ever happened to me.❤️”
“Don’t count yourself out. You are destined to do bigger things than just check a box,” she concluded her post.
Giudici Lowe, whose father is of Swiss-Italian and Scottish descent and her mother is a Filipino-American, was cast in the 17th season of The Bachelor, who won the heart of her now-husband.
Guidici Lowe and Lowe tied the knot in 2014 and have since welcomed three children together: 5-month-old daughter Mia, and sons 2-year-old Isaiah Hendrix and 3-year-old Samuel Thomas.
On Monday, June 8, ABC will re-air the couple’s season in a condensed three-hour episode.
While Giudici Lowe fondly recalled her experience on the franchise, another former Bachelor contestant, Rachel Lindsay, recently expressed her disappointment in the reality series for its lack of diversity.
During a recent interview with AfterBuzz, Lindsay, who is the first and only black lead in the franchise’s history, revealed she would not want to continue in the reality show if changes aren’t made.
“When you’re putting out something that is very whitewashed and doesn’t have any type of color in it and you’re not trying to be effective and change that… I think that they have to at this point, give us a black Bachelor for season 25,” Lindsay said.
“I don’t know how you don’t,” she continued. “It’s been asked of me will I continue in this franchise if it continues this way, I can’t. I have to see some type of change.”
Lindsay went on to explain that she’s embarrassed to be a part of a community with very few faces of color. “It’s ridiculous. It’s embarrassing. At this point it’s embarrassing to be affiliated with it,” Lindsay added.
This isn’t the first time Lindsay has been critical of The Bachelor franchise. She’s previously said that the series “doesn’t reflect the real world.”
Last September, Lindsay told the Associated Press that she thinks “diversity” is currently the franchise’s biggest problem. “My biggest thing, and I almost feel like it’s a responsibility for me being their only lead of color, to step out and speak about that,” said Lindsay. “If I could change one thing, it’s the show doesn’t reflect the real world.”