Mike Johnson, 31, just made his debut on Bachelor In Paradise, and the Air Force veteran already had to shoot down unfounded rumors. The former Bachelorette contestant used his date card on Caelynn Miller-Keyes, 24, instead of Tayshia Adams, 28, on the Aug. 12 episode of BIP, leading one fan to comment under Mike’s Instagram post on Aug. 16, “WHY DIDN’T YOU PICK TAYSHIA????” Another fan jumped to conclusions and wrote, “He clearly is not into women of color!?”
Mike was not happy with that suggestion. “You dont [sic] know me so I’m not going to scold you but I do know I dont [sic] like you with this ignorant a** statement. I love women of color 💯,” Mike shot back at the fan who accused him of showing prejudice on the dating show.
Mike ended up kissing Caelynn on their televised date, but Miss North Carolina 2018 went on to also accept a rose from Dean Unglert, 26, and go on a date with him as well by the Aug. 13 episode of BIP. Of course, that hurt Mike’s feelings, but we don’t think fans are too upset at the possibility of Mike still being single.
Fans have been hoping and crossing their fingers that Mike will be the next “Bachelor” in 2020 after becoming a fan favorite from Hannah Brown’s Bachelorette season, which wrapped on July 30. “Listen. Please make Mike Johnson the next Bachelor!!!! He deserves it!!!! He’s the best!!!” one fan tweeted on Aug. 12, while another ABC viewer wrote, “I think Mike Johnson will be the next bachelor. ABC is promoting him way too much for him NOT to be.”
For now, fans will wait and see if Mike instead finds love on Season 6 of BIP, which is making some of them nervous. “I’m very annoyed to see Mike Johnson on #BachelorInParadise he was supposed to be the next Bachelor so I could marry him,” one such fan tweeted.