Most seasons of "The Bachelor" have ended with a happily taken man and the woman who won the key to his heart. But the Vietnamese version of the popular television show has brought us the unexpected: a very real and very proud same-sex relationship, and I couldn't be happier.
Last month, a contestant on "The Bachelor: Vietnam" proclaimed her affections not for the man with the roses, but for one of the women she was supposed be competing against. During one episode's ending rose ceremony, contestant Minh Thu stole bachelor Nyugen Quoc Trung's spotlight when she professed her love for fellow competitor Truc Nhu. Nhu had just received one of Trung's roses, a representation of his desire to learn more about her as a potential partner, and Thu took this as her opportunity to intervene before it proved too late.
WILDEST rose ceremony moment: Minh-Thu confesses love, but NOT to the Bachelor Vietnamwww.youtube.com
"I went into this competition to find love," Thu tearfully confessed to her suitor, "and I've found that love for myself. But it isn't you. It's someone else." With that being said, Thu turned to the ranks of women behind her to find Nhu, embracing her and pleading her to "come home with [her]." Both the show's host and Trung himself expressed their opposition to Nhu's early departure, but she stood her ground and, with an apology and a final, heartfelt hug, she rejected him and gave him back his rose.
The above scene ended with Nhu and Thu leaving the room together, which fans celebrated as the formal beginning of their lives as a couple. Yet Nhu ultimately decided it was in her best interest to return to the show, which Trung had encouraged her to do all along. In an interview with Buzzfeed News, Nhu explained that her continued participation on the show was to "make sure her feelings [for Thu] were real and not just infatuation." She also felt that the bachelor "deserved a fair chance" and was willing to see how their connection played out.
Though he had enthusiastically welcomed her back, Trung soon eliminated Nhu, sending her back home into the arms of an awaiting Thu. Their time spent apart revealed to them both that their feelings for one another were only strengthened by distance and could not be ignored. Once the women were reunited, they knew that they were meant to be a couple and took the next step in their relationship. They are now working hard to prove to their families that their love is legitimate and will succeed in spite of their doubts.
On behalf of the LGBTQ+ community, I wish I could personally Minh Thu and Truc Nhu for going public with their romance. They knew the risks of televising their love confessions on a show geared towards straight people, but they went ahead and did it anyway. Thu and Nhu wanted to stay true to who they are all along. While some may argue they must not be too serious about each other if Nhu went back to "The Bachelor" in the end, it was All Nhu's brief return that brought them closer. Nhu had auditioned for the show and, as promised, wanted to give her suitor the opportunity to try and woo her. Whether from a man or a woman, Nhu desired true love, and it just so happens that she found it in a fellow contestant.
And that is the message we all need to take home from this: love comes between all sorts of people of different genders and sexualities. All of this "non-cis/non-straight" love is just as valuable as any other kind and it's time we see it that way more often in the media and in the world around us.