(CNN) Following a petition urging ABC to address a lack of diversity on its enormously popular reality dating franchise, ABC has cast the first black "Bachelor." Matt James will be the star of the 25th season of "The Bachelor." James, 28, was a popular contestant on Season 16 of "The Bachelorette" and is the best friend of former "Bachelorette" contestant Tyler Cameron, with whom he runs the non-profit ABC Food Tours. "Matt has been on our radar since February, when producers first approached him to join Bachelor Nation, as part of Clare's season," ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke said in a statement. "When filming couldn't move forward as planned, we were given the benefit of time to get to know Matt and all agreed he would make a perfect Bachelor."

Source: CNN June 12, 2020 13:40 UTC