Already have an account?
Get back to the

Catherine Giudici Thought She Was on ‘The Bachelor’ to ‘Check a Box’ as a Filipino Woman

Opening up. Catherine Giudici got real about her time on The Bachelor on Sunday, June 7, one day before her season with Sean Lowe reairs on ABC.

Related: A Guide to 'Bachelor' Spinoffs and When They'll Air

“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,” Giudici, 34, who won season 17 of The Bachelor and is still married to Lowe, 36, today. “I counted myself out to be his fiancée because of what I assumed Sean liked. I thought I was there just to check a box, but I ended up with so much more.”

She 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.”

Filipino Catherine Giudici Thought She Was on The Bachelor to Check a Box
ABC/RICK ROWELL

The graphic designer ended her post with a note to her followers. “Don’t count yourself out,” she wrote. “You are destined to do bigger things than just check a box.)

Guidici married Lowe in 2014. The pair share Samuel, 3, Isaiah, 2, and Mia, 5 months. Their season of The Bachelor will be part of ABC’s upcoming special, The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons — Ever, which will feature 10 three-hour episodes that look back at the most memorable seasons in the series’ history.

Related: Sean and Catherine's Family Album

The former reality star’s comments come on the heels of Rachel Lindsay speaking out about the diversity issues in Bachelor Nation. Lindsay, 35, is the only black lead since the show’s 2002 debut.

The season 13 Bachelorette, who currently hosts the official Bachelor podcast, “Bachelor Happy Hour,” revealed on Friday, June 5, that if things don’t change, she’ll be stepping away from the franchise.

“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,” she said on AfterBuzz TV. “It’s ridiculous. It’s embarrassing. At this point, it’s embarrassing to be affiliated with it.”

Related: Every Bachelor Couple Who Has Tied the Knot

The Dallas native added: “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. I don’t know how you don’t. It bothers me that certain things have happened that we just say, ‘Oh, hush hush,’ and ‘Let’s just move on past it.’ We need to acknowledge it because what you’re doing is perpetuating this type of behavior, you’re continuing to.”

In this article

Got a Tip form close button
Got a tip for US?
We're All Ears for Celebrity Buzz!