Matt James’s season of The Bachelor is monumental in additional ways than one. Not only did Warner Bros. cast its first Black male lead within the show’s 18-year history, but the group vying for his heart is that the most diverse pool of girls yet.
Abigail Heringer made history on Monday night because the franchise’s first deaf contestant — and therefore the 25-year-old from Salem, Ore., didn’t have a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance. The securities analyst got quality airtime; she revealed during the Season 25 premiere she “was born completely deaf.”
“So, there’s something a touch bit different about me,” she told James during their first meeting. “And that’s I’m deaf. So I’m getting to be reading your lips tons tonight, but thankfully you’ve got really beautiful lips. So I’m not complaining!”
“I love that! I’m getting to enunciate for you,” James replied.
The two established a connection, which was evident afterward within the evening when Heringer secured the primary impression rose. As Bachelor Nation knows, that creates her a frontrunner. Host Chris Harrison even called Heringer “one of our favorites” and teased she’s “here for the proper reasons.”
Here’s why this is often an enormous deal.
Representation of deaf and hard-of-hearing people onscreen is critical, consistent with the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), and Heringer’s story may help bring more societal acceptance to the community.
“NAD appreciates every opportunity for the viewing public to ascertain real deaf and hard-of-hearing people on television, because this results in more openness and acceptance of deaf and hard-of-hearing people altogether aspects of society,” Howard Rosenblum, NAD’s CEO, tells Yahoo Entertainment.
Heringer is one among four children, and both she and her older sister, Rachel, were born with congenital deafness . They both successfully received cochlear implants at age 2. In an interview with the Salem Statesman Journal, their mom, Suzie, said she was surprised to find out Abigail was “willing to share her story about her hearing loss” on national television.
sourced via www.yahoo.com