Mike Johnson got real candid about his new book, Making the Love You Want. In an interview with Popsugar, he talked about everything from his personal writing experience to his journey on The Bachelor. His book is going to be released on Oct. 2, and it’s a definite must-read.
In his interview, Mike shared how, after a series of tumultuous life events, he realized he needed to find love from within himself.
“When it clicked for me — that the best love starts within oneself — I just wanted to continue to share that message with as many people as I can, and the medium happened to be my book,” he said.
After going appearing on The Bachelor twice, deploying for the Air Force, and going through his ex’s miscarriage, something changed inside of him. And he gets very candid about sharing the intimate details of life during those difficult times. But, Mike also revealed how he wants people to read the book as a guide.
“[It’s] not a memoir; I’m way too young for that,” he said in the Popsugar interview. “This book is encapsulating the steps that it takes for you in your life journey to find out that you are a badass, that you are deserving of everything that you put your mind to — whether it’s to get a pay raise, to find the love of your life, and all the things in between. It teaches you how to obtain that thing.”
He also discussed how much he learned and grew from his experience on The Bachelor. It forced him to realize the importance of being true to yourself because, at the end of the day, you can’t pretend to be anyone else.
“Those shows just taught me that it’s amazing to be who you are. It’s amazing to be a goofy-looking dude with a bad haircut and a big ol’ smile,” he said.
Johnson also addressed the lack of diversity in The Bachelor franchise. Before this year, there had been only one Black lead on the show, Rachel Lindsay. Matt James is the next Bachelor, making him the first Black bachelor in the show’s history. It was just revealed that Tayshia Adams is taking over Clare Crawley as the next Bachelorette. However, Johnson said that there is still a long journey ahead for the franchise to be more inclusive.
“We are nowhere near done whatsoever,” he said. “I want to see people of color, of different sexualities, in the boardroom, and the people that make the decisions, the people that create the show and make the show different than what it already has been. I think that it kind of sucks that they had to have an outcry for them to make a change because there’s been amazing people that are Black, that are of color in the past, and that’s disheartening, but hopefully they will make it up.”
As if we didn’t love Mike Johnson enough already, I can’t even imagine how we’ll feel after his book release.
