The Bachelorette season 13 return date and promo: First look at Rachel Lindsay and the contestants

The Bachelorette fans are in for some major surprises as Rachel Lindsay, the first black lead, takes over the next season. While there's more than a month's time before the ABC reality show airs season 13, the first look of this year's bachelorette has been released.

Teasing a peek at the upcoming season's lead, the official portrait showed Lindsay decked in a custom red gown, whose elaborate train imitated a blossoming flower.

Designer Randi Rahm, who is the creator of the chiffon and tulle dress, captured the iconic elements of the rose ceremony in the first look.

Ahead of the season premiere in May, IBTimesUK compiles every detail of season 13 of The Bachelorette:

Who is Rachel Lindsay?

The 31-year-old attorney stood out from the crop of suitors during Viall's season on The Bachelor. Lindsay is now set for a historic season as the first African-American lead of the dating reality show.

In her previous bio, the Bachelorette-to-be describes her biggest regret to be "focusing too much on my career" and also adds that she would like to be in Michelle Obama's skin if she could be someone else for a day. She also lists Jean-Michel Basquiat as he favourite artist.

Describing the personality of the next Bachelorette lead, the franchise director Ken Fuchs told THR, "She's just a regular girl, a regular woman. I found her very real and normal and kind of you know lively, fun, exciting, beautiful, really smart..."

Meet the contestants of The Bachelorette season 13

Traditionally, the identity of the new suitors isn't revealed until shortly before the season premiere, but Lindsay was pleasantly surprised during the "After the Final Rose" special of The Bachelor. She was introduced to four of the contestants during Viall's season itself and later she met with two others on the Ellen DeGeneres show, altogether revealing six suitors: Fred, Alex, Jonathan, Brian, Will and Peter.

"We always want 25 people who are definitely there for the right reasons but also very open to that specific Bachelor or Bachelorette," Fuchs said explaining the racial mix on the upcoming season.

The Bachelorette return date

Filming has begun on season 13 of the ABC show featuring Lindsay, and new episode premieres on 22 May.