Nance, whose mother is Filipino and father Black and Arab, was among the top three contestants of the season that wrapped up last week. The internet hate was particularly fierce following an episode in which her family shared their Filipino traditions. But the 26-year-old told NBC News this week that none of it hasn’t changed the pride she feels about her cultures.
Nance said that while many women of color are expected to whitewash their experiences to make others feel more comfortable, she will be doing no such thing.
“Being a woman, you’re really put in a box and being a woman of color, you’re put in a smaller box and we just can’t win,” Nance said. “It was either I honor my family and I show what I was raised with, or do I not and hold back, and then I’m sad, and I’m not honoring my family.”
She chose the former, “and I think that’s all you can do — you just show who you are.”
Nance was one of 32 women who appeared on the popular show’s 28th season to vie for the heart of Bachelor Joey Graziadei. Nance said she was dismayed at comments from fans following the Week 8 episode, in which Graziadei, 28, visited the hometowns of the top four contestants. Though Nance grew up in Hawaii, her hometown date took place in Rancho Cucamonga, California, where her family introduced Graziadei to several Filipino customs, including a feast of lechon, a crispy roasted pig and tinikling, a traditional dance in which dancers jump, step and twirl between two bamboo poles that are clapped together on the ground.
