The Bachelorette NZ makes history with two leading ladies

New Zealand has made Bachelor franchise history by casting two women for The Bachelorette NZ.

During Sunday night's fourth episode, the original star of the season — 32-year-old doctor Lesina Nakhid-Schuster — was joined by former The Bachelor NZ contestant Lily McManus, 22.

Needless to say, the men vying for Lesina's heart were pretty shocked.

Lily addressed her arrival last night on Instagram.

"Y'all mind if I join this nationally televised tonsil hockey tournament?" she wrote, sharing a photo with Lesina. "When I was asked to do this show, woman empowerment was always a main priority of mine. The show had to be about two women raising each other up and supporting one another through such a wild experience."

She assured fans of the show that no man would get in the way of her friendship with Lesina.

"Lesina is a GREAT mate of mine and the amount of support we have been able to offer each other throughout this makes my brain melt in the best possible way," she said. "We are two very different women, who are looking for two very different things."

Lily jokingly finished, "Will we find our dream men? Will we choose no one and start dating each other? Will I remember all of their names? How many times can I say 's---' on TV?"

Lily's arrival has been met with mixed feelings.

While some fans of the show were excited about the twist, others expressed their disappointment that Lesina — who is of of Pacific Island, Caribbean, Lebanese and German heritage — is being upstaged by a white woman.

"Bad move Bachelorette. You obviously could not keep a women of colour bachelorette on there for long right? Pretty sure you'll lose viewers," one person commented on the Bachelorette Instagram account.

Another added, "It's a little disappointing that a WOC couldn't have the spotlight on her."

While Lily found fame on The Bachelor NZ 2017, she's actually Australian. She also previously dated fellow Aussie and Bachelor Australia alum Courtney Dober after meeting on The Bachelor Winter Games in the US.