by Jay Barmann
Originally published on SFist, May 24, 2017
The internet is loudly mocking/hate-tweeting about 30-year-old Lucas Yancey. The Cal grad and Woodside resident is one of the contestant bachelors on the latest edition of The Bachelorette, and if the above video is any indication, he was cast on the show in order to inspire "what a douche" comments on social media and to irritate the rest of the cast until he makes it to the final three.
The Bachelorette this time is Rachel Lindsay, the first African-American bachelorette in the franchise's history — and that's out of 33 combined seasons of The Bachelor/The Bacheloretteon ABC. Rachel is an attorney from Texas, and as they've done with previous seasons, they plucked her out of the last round of The Bachelor in which she vied for the love of four-time failed marriage prospect Nick Viall.
Uproxx pegs Lucas, with his megaphone entrance, Jim Carrey-esque forced zanyness, and "Whaboom" catchphrase, as a bit of hate-watch casting, and they're likely spot-on. Did I mention that in addition to introducing himself with a catchphrase, "Whaboom" is also a t-shirt line that he's pimping — he steps out of the limo in his first episode wearing one of his own t-shirts bearing the word/brand. He also lists Whaboom as his occupation in his bio. He also needed to say it and act insane during the rose ceremony.
Vulture, which dug up the easily findable video below — some kind of spec commercial Yancey made for Doritos — suggests that casting Yancey, with his obvious thirst for showbiz fame, is "an extremely cynical casting move" even for this show, which long ago gave up on the ruse that anyone's really on it to find love.
I know. Big news, right? Attention-hungry, wannabe famous actor goes on reality show to get attention/fame.
But this time, he's from the Bay Area. So, we're all to blame.