Bachelor Week 5 recap with deaf contestant Abigail Heringer

RENCA DUNN, DAILY MOTH REPORTER:

It is week 5 with the first Black man as the bachelor, Matt James, and the first deaf contestant, Abigail Heringer, from Oregon. This is a recap of Episode 5 from last night and we will summarize a few news articles that surfaced about Abigail the past week.

During last week’s episode, Abigail rarely appeared in the episode, but for last night’s episode, Abigail appeared on screen more often. There was a vulnerable and defining moment between Matt and Abigail during a group date. For the group date, they went to a farm and played some farm games like finding a horseshoe in a pile of hay with buckets tied around the waist, finding chicken eggs, and so forth. After that farm fun, the group changed their clothes and had a cocktail party. That was when Abigail pulled Matt for a private conversation.

Abigail mentioned that she was not getting enough time with Matt and really needed to talk to him. During their time together, Abigail brought up a very challenging topic that would define her whole relationship. She said that she wanted to have a family and it is very likely that her kids will be deaf. She explained that after she and her sister got cochlear implants, her birth father walked out on them. So, she said she did not want her husband to walk out on her too if her kids are deaf.

Abigail did get teary eyed when she told her story. Matt reassured her that would never be the case. He said he understood the feeling of having a father walk out because his father also walked out on him.

Matt was so deeply moved about how vulnerable Abigail was and gave her a rose which secured her spot to continue on this journey.

[Sponsored Video from Convo: https://www.convorelay.com/download]

Her story has hit several news articles like the US Weekly magazine. In that US Weekly magazine article, she explained that it is difficult for her to open up about her “hidden disability” because that is not something you would immediately want to share on a first date. She briefly explained about one of her dating experiences at a TopGolf venue and having a hard time understanding the man she was with because of the loud music. So, with Matt, Abigail knew she had to be transparent right away to see if he would accept her as she is and what the future could bring.

Another story about Abigail appeared in The New York Times. The article talked about various deaf people with different backgrounds and how they are portrayed on TV and/or the internet such as “Deaf U,” Shoshannah Stern, Nakia Smith, and others. Some identify themselves with the Deaf community and some do not, like Abigail doesn't. With this article, Abigail shared it on her Instagram story and agreed about the different identities, saying that there is no way that her experience could define a whole deaf community. She said she does not identify herself as a capital “D” but still feels left out in the hearing world. She said she hopes that more stories about deaf people come out in order to remove the stigma and stereotypes about all types of hearing loss.

You can read the articles we mentioned with the links in the transcript. Abigail is quickly becoming a fan favorite. There are already many tweets asking if Abigail could be the next Bachelorette if she gets eliminated. Will she be the first deaf bachelorette? Who knows. For now, we know that Abigail will continue her journey with Matt next week.

Cheatsheet Article: https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/bachelor-abigail-heringer-matt-james-season-25-episode-5.html/

US WEEKLY ARTICLE: https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/bachelor-matt-james-learns-that-abigails-kids-will-likely-be-deaf/

NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/arts/television/deaf-tv-representation.html