Rachel Lindsay on Making History as First African American (& ‘Oldest’) Bachelorette: ‘All Eyes Are on Me’

The Bachelorette‘s Rachel Lindsay is making franchise history as ABC’s first black lead — and she readily acknowledges there’s plenty of pressure that comes along with taking on that role.

“I really do [feel it], because I know all eyes are on me,” Lindsay, 32, tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s issue. “They’re on me because I’m something new and different that they haven’t seen in this franchise before. With that, everyone’s going to have an opinion.”

That said, Lindsay, who works as a trial attorney in Dallas, says she’s braced herself to face the onslaught of attention.

“There’s going to be a lot of judgment, and I can’t please everyone,” she says. “I thought to myself, ‘Do I really want to do that? Do I want to take on that challenge?’ — and I’m not one to run away from a challenge, so why not challenge…

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