'Love is Blind's Lauren Speed Complains Mike Johnson Wasn't Chosen as the Bachelor Over Matt James

Lauren Speed found her happily ever after with Cameron Hamilton on Love is Blind, but when it comes to The Bachelor franchise, she's got some strong opinions. The reality star was really hoping Mike Johnson would become the next leading man of the franchise.

Of course, that wasn't the case. This morning, Matt James was confirmed as the next Bachelor, marking the first-ever black male lead on the ABC franchise. While that's truly something to be celebrated, Lauren dropped a shade-filled comment after the announcement, as screenshotted by Reddit user wow6576. "They could have at least picked @MikeJohnson1," she said, tagging the former Bachelorette contestant.

Mike was a fan-favorite on Hannah Brown's season of The Bachelorette, and prior to Peter Weber being cast as the Bachelor, people believed he was a complete shoe-in for the part. His snub was widely regarded by fans as alleged racism from ABC, and many had still been rooting for him to be cast for the next season.

Former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay, who is the first and only black female lead in the franchise, initially vouched for Mike as well. After Peter was cast, she spoke out, telling Entertainment Tonight, "I definitely asked. I was extremely vocal about Mike Johnson and how he checked all the boxes and it doesn't make sense why he is not the lead. And it even seemed as if the audience wanted him. The audience was not into Peter."

Matt may have taken the Bachelor crown, but there's no denying Bachelor Nation definitely has a lot of love for Mike.