Ever since Rachael Kirkconnell joined The Bachelor franchise in 2021, her name has always been associated with Matt James, whether that was due to her winning his final rose, the racism scandal that plagued Season 25, or — as of January — their shocking breakup. Kirkconnell is finally making a name for herself as an individual, and she recently opened up about being excited to show the world “everything” about her.

Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell built a strong social media presence for themselves, traveling the world and posting restaurant reviews from their excursions. Whether or not the foodie space is still where Kirkconnell wants to be is unclear, but she opened up to OK! Magazine about breaking free from being just one half of a Bachelor Nation couple. She said:

It’s no secret that The Bachelor doesn’t have the best track record for lasting romance, and Rachael Kirkconnell and Matt James’ four-year relationship was one of the most enduring. In fact, to this day Sean Lowe remains the only lead to make it to the altar with the woman he proposed to on the show.

Zach Shallcross and Joey Graziadei are still engaged to their seasons’ winners — and we’ll have to see what happens when Grant Ellis’ season finale airs March 24 on the 2025 TV schedule (we’ve got the Grant Ellis spoilers, if you want them). However, until just a couple of months ago, Matt James was also among those so-far-successful love stories.

Rachael Kirkconnell sounds like she’s ready to not live in that shadow any longer, as she continued:

In the months since their split, Rachael Kirkconnell has been listening to Taylor Swift as she embarks on this journey of self-discovery. She’s working on regaining her confidence, she said, and being nicer to herself. The women of Bachelor Nation gave her a boost in that direction, with several former cast members sending love and support to Kirkconnell.

She may not have all the answers regarding what’s next, but she says she has been trying to get out of her comfort zone and learn more about who she is. She said:

One of the things she’s already said “yes” to was a savage paper towel ad that referenced the Matt James breakup, and it will be interesting to see what else we get from Rachael Kirkconnell, the individual.

In the meantime, tune into The Bachelor Season 29 finale, which starts at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, March 24, on ABC and can be streamed the next day with a Hulu subscription.

As far as The Bachelor breakups go, Matt James has kept things pretty clean since announcing that he had ended his four-year relationship with Rachael Kirkconnell, and after relaying her side of the breakup on Call Her Daddy, Kirkconnell seems to be doing her part to keep things from getting too messy as well. The Bachelor Season 25 winner has partnered with Brawny paper towels in a new ad, and fans are here for the “savage” trolling of her ex.

It’s been a month since Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell’s split rocked Bachelor Nation, and even as a new season of The Bachelor airs on the 2025 TV schedule, I have to admit I’m kind of obsessed with a different love story after Kirkconnell posted her hilarious new ad for paper towels. Check it out on her Instagram:

Rachael Kirkconnell and the Brawny Man is the ship I never knew I needed. The Bachelor alum never actually mentions Matt James by name in the ad, but she doesn’t need to. Anybody who’s followed the story of this breakup likely picked up on the not-so-subtle jabs, including finding someone she can always depend on who is strong and reliable, no matter what surprises come her way.

Her mentioning the pressure to pick out the perfect dinner spot was surely also a reference to the food bloggers’ relationship. More specifically, Rachael Kirkconnell said the argument that led to her breakup started because she felt her restaurant choice that night wasn’t good enough. Even the fact that they were making pizza in the ad seemed to throw back to their final video together — posted mere hours before Matt James allegedly blindsided Kirkconnell by announcing their split to the world — that showed them eating pizza.

Just as the women of Bachelor Nation supported Rachael Kirkconnell post-breakup, former Bachelorettes and others gave their stamp of approval for the new ad in the comments:

• Miss Rachael you’re iconic – Jenn Tran
• ITS GIVING Ariana Madix 👏👏 – Kaitlyn Bristowe
• The marketing team who pitched this collab need a raise STAT 🤣👏 – @iskra
• Savage – @thetessasmith
• I feel like we all just won the lottery 🤣😮‍💨🤍 – @smearbybrit
• This is toooooo goood💀 – @holisticrendezvous
• Rachael you dirty dog….I love it – meg.bossert

In addition to support from her family and friends, Rachael Kirkconnell has said her Taylor Swift playlists have been helping her cope with the end of her romance with Matt James. The couple met on The Bachelor in 2021, but their season was rocked by a racism scandal when photos and social media activity from Kirkconnell’s past resurfaced. Franchise host Chris Harrison ultimately parted ways with ABC after the backlash he received for defending Kirkconnell’s attendance at a plantation-themed fraternity party.

While Wells Adams has suggested Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell join Bachelor in Paradise for its 10th season later this year, I much prefer the hilarious savagery of this paper towel ad. Brawny Man is ready to clean up any messes, so feel free to spill all the tea!

In the meantime, you can also experience Grant Ellis’ journey to find love on new episodes of The Bachelor at 8 p.m. ET each Monday on ABC and streaming with a Hulu subscription.

After going on hiatus following a disastrous ninth season followed by breakups, Bachelor in Paradise will return to the 2025 TV schedule with a new showrunner and a fresh group of Bachelor Nation singles hoping to find love (or Instagram followers). It’s not unusual to see contestants with still freshly broken hearts take the beach, and sometimes they’re even brought face-to-face with their exes. That’s apparently what Wells Adams is hoping to see with Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell, and I am not here for this hot take.

Wells Adams Suggests Paradise For Matt James And Rachael Kirkconnell

Matt James’ social media announcement that he and Rachael Kirkconnell had broken up after four years of dating shocked Bachelor Nation alumni and fans alike. Not only that, but Kirkconnell filling in some of the gaps of what happened on Call Her Daddy barely softened the blow. Former The Bachelorette contestant and BIP bartender Wells Adams was as surprised as anyone, but he told Parade that maybe the split presented them with an opportunity, saying:

Hopefully, Wells Adams was just joking, because the thought of Rachael Kirkconnell and/or Matt James showing up on Bachelor in Paradise Season 10 is the hottest Bachelor take I’ve heard in a while. It’s highly unlikely that either one would ever consider it and, in my opinion, they absolutely shouldn’t.

Matt James And/Or Rachael Kirkconnell On Bachelor In Paradise Is A Bad Idea

There’s one big reason why this former couple would likely never agree to appear on Bachelor in Paradise, and that’s because they separated themselves from the franchise following the racism scandal of Matt James’ season. Despite being one of the longest-standing couples ever to come out of the show, neither of them ever appeared in the audience at a finale or showed up to host a group date. They chose each other, and they moved on.

Knowing that this is already the slimmest of potential scenarios, however, I don’t think either of them should return to the franchise, for their own well-being. Rachael Kirkconnell was villainized for past racist actions, which included attending an antebellum-themed fraternity party in 2018, and I doubt she wants to relive any of what we went through publicly in 2021.

As for Matt James, despite Rachael Kirkconnell denying that there was cheating involved in their breakup, the former Bachelor has been criticized by fans for the way he blindsided Kirkconnell with the breakup announcement — posting the Instagram photo as she got on an international flight, where he knew she wouldn’t have use of her phone for 12 hours.

Bachelor Nation’s fanbase has, unfortunately, been known to get pretty toxic, sending death threats to the reality stars for no reason at all. With everything Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell have already been through, I think their history with the franchise is too charged for either of them to make a well-received comeback. With that, I hope they ignore Wells Adams’ musings and stay far away from Bachelor in Paradise.

Even as a new season of The Bachelor is underway on the 2025 TV schedule, fans are still recovering from the sudden breakup of Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell — one of the franchise’s longest-standing couples. Kirkconnell revealed what’s been getting her through the past three weeks, and it sounds like she’s got a good Taylor Swift playlist to help her mourn the end of her four-year relationship.

In the stages of breakup grief (as written by Taylor Swift), you have to get through “loml” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” before you can reach the level of “I Forgot That You Existed,” and the 2024 double breakup album TTPD seems to be exactly the era Rachael Kirkconnell is in right now, as she told Cosmopolitan what’s been helping her post-breakup:

Three excellent choices, if you ask me. After receiving support from the women of Bachelor Nation, Rachael Kirkconnell is soaking in the energy of some strong female celebrities, as well as indulging in the heartbreaking lyrics of The Tortured Poets Department.

The winner of The Bachelor Season 25 doesn’t consider herself a true Swiftie who stays up-to-date on all of Taylor Swift’s upcoming projects, but she does recognize that the singer has been a constant presence in her life when heartbreak rolls around. Rachael Kirkconnell said:

I’m not sure how The Bachelor franchise has associated itself with Taylor Swift to the degree that it has, but Rachael Kirkconnell is far from the first of the reality show’s contestants to summon the power of The Tortured Poet Department’s chairman. Just look at the Bachelor Nation’s history with the Eras Tour artist:

• Christina Mandrell, who appeared on Zach Shallcross’ season of The Bachelor and is now married to the dangle earring-wearing Brayden Bowers, was in Taylor Swift’s “Fifteen” music video.
• Former Bachelorette Katie Thurston hard-launched a new relationship through a “12 days of messy” series on social media, where she dedicated a Taylor Swift song to a different ex each day.
• Jenn Tran dropped hints about the end of her season by pairing a TS song with each new episode of The Bachelorette.
• Ex-Bachelor contestant Amanda Stanton was dragged recently for suggesting that Taylor Swift might be stealing her style.

It sounds like Rachael Kirkconnell is in good company when it comes to her Taylor Swift fandom. The biggest musician on the current season of The Bachelor, however, is Grant Ellis himself.

Tune in to see if more musical opportunities await on new episodes each Monday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription. (You can also see the spoiler for how Grant Ellis’ season ends and keep up with all of The Bachelor Season 29 eliminations.)

There’s big drama happening in Bachelor Nation right now, and it doesn’t have anything to do with Grant Ellis’ season of The Bachelor, which premiered this week on the 2025 TV schedule. In a move nobody saw coming (even, apparently, Rachael Kirkconnell) Season 25 Matt James publicly announced his breakup from the woman he met four years ago and started dating on his controversial season of the ABC dating show. Now, two weeks after his post, Kirkconnell has returned to Instagram, and the comments section was flooded with former contestants sending their love.

Rachael Kirkconnell broke her silence this week on the argument that led to the end of her and Matt James’ relationship while they were vacationing in Japan. On January 29, she shared several photos from the trip, with assurances that the latest drama has not sullied her opinion of her favorite travel spot. Kirkconnell posted to Instagram:

Not surprisingly, Matt James is not featured in any of the pics on the post, though we can only assume he was the photographer for the ones of her. The most recent Bachelorette Jenn Tran — who went through her own bad breakup on her “cruel” season finale in September — had the sweetest words The Bachelor Season 25 winner, commenting:

The Bachelorette Season 21 lead was just one of SO MANY of the dating show alumni to throw their support behind Rachael Kirkconnell during this difficult time. Her fellow contestants from Matt James’ season, several former Bachelorettes and more celebrated her for speaking out on the Call Her Daddy podcast and for having such a positive spin in her return to social media. More comments included:

• Beautiful inside and out 💗 loved how vulnerable you were on the podcast & can’t wait to continue and watch you shine ✨ you got this – Daisy Kent
• Love you my shining star ⭐️💝💝💝 – Kit Keenan
• Atta girl!!! 🙌🔥❤️ – Katie Thurston
• Queen 👑 – Abigail Heringer
• I promise you, there’s so much light, happiness and LOVE to look forward to. You got this!!! ♥️ – Tayshia Adams
• And we all love you!!! 🤍 – Rachel Recchia
• Keep pushing, only better things to come for you 💖 – Becca Kufrin
• We love you & are rooting for you ❤️ you got this 💪 😘 – Raven Gates
• We love you Rachael!!!!! 😍😍 – Becca Tilley
• Can’t dim that light! Nowhere but up from here beautiful girl! ♥️✨ – Jessenia Cruz
• Queen!! You got this❤️❤️❤️ – Vanessa Grimaldi

That doesn’t even include everyone from The Bachelor world who sent love, with some — including Jessica Girod, Kaity Biggar, Hannah Godwin, Susie Evans and Jade Roper — dropping emojis in solidarity.

Say what you will about the drama we see between the contestants sometimes, but this shows how much the women actually care about each other.

Matt James hasn’t had anything to say publicly for the past couple of weeks, so we’ll have to see if he ends up going on any podcasts to refute Rachael Kirkconnell’s side of the story or give his reasons for the seemingly sudden split. Until then, we’ve at least got Grant Ellis’ journey to focus on.

New episodes of The Bachelor air at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on ABC and can be streamed the next day with a Hulu subscription. If you can’t wait to see how it ends, check out the spoiler for who wins Grant Ellis’ season.

We’re mere days away from Grant Ellis making his debut on the 2025 TV schedule as The Bachelor’s second Black lead, but for the last week or so, fans’ attention has been laser-focused on the first. Matt James shocked Bachelor Nation with his post announcing that he had split from Rachael Kirkconnell four years after they met on Season 25 of the ABC dating show. Despite the breakup seemingly coming out of nowhere, a source alleges it was a “long time coming,” and fans have gotten to work dissecting Kirkconnell’s social media activity for clues as to what may have happened.

Source Discloses What Allegedly Led To Matt And Rachael’s Split

Given The Bachelor’s racism scandal that Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell weathered following their televised courtship, coupled with their frequent social media posts eating and traveling together, Bachelor Nation had little reason to believe trouble was afoot in this relationship. In fact, the suddenness of it all had fans theorizing that it was a prank or that James had been hacked. An insider for US Weekly, however, claims there was more going on behind the scenes than we realized. They said:

Rachael Kirkconnell’s sister commented on a TikTok video about the breakup, allegedly saying that Matt James had ended the relationship just three hours before posting the Instagram announcement. With so much tea just begging to be spilled, fans have found several potentially telling clues from Kirkconnell’s own social media activity.

Is Rachael Kirkconnell Subtlely Revealing What Happened With Matt James?

Rachael Kirkconnell’s last post on Instagram is from December — a birthday tribute to the former Bachelor — but within the comments of that post there seems to be a clue regarding the events surrounding the breakup. Kirkconnell “liked” a comment from mac_hodgdon that read:

A source for US Weekly, however, clarified that Rachael Kirkconnell was blindsided by Matt James’ fast public announcement, not the breakup itself.

Some fans are also wondering if infidelity was involved, after The Bachelor contestant reportedly reposted a couple of TikTok videos that mentioned cheating. In one, a woman hides behind the door at the house of her friend’s supposedly cheating boyfriend and tackles him when he walks in. Another shows visuals from Sex and the City, with Carrie telling Aidan that she misses him and him responding, “You broke my heart!” by cheating on him with Mr. Big.

With Matt James not saying much about the split and Rachael Kirkconnell not really saying anything, all fans can do is speculate on why the couple ended their four-year relationship. While we wait for any official explanation, Bachelor Nation can tune in for Grant Ellis’ journey, which kicks off at 8 p.m. ET Monday, January 27, on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription.

Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell caused quite a stir in Bachelor Nation back in 2020, when a racism scandal rocked The Bachelor’s 25th season — its first to feature a Black lead. Despite the “devastating” revelations of Kirkconnell’s past and a controversial interview that resulted in host Chris Harrison stepping away from the franchise, James and Kirkconnell remained one of Bachelor Nation’s longest-lasting couples for the better part of five years — until now. The former football player announced January 16 that he and Kirkconnell decided to “end our relationship,” causing a frenzy amongst fans, as the announcement came just hours after a video showed the couple vacationing together.

Days ahead of The Bachelor Season 29 premiere on the 2025 TV schedule, rumors are flying on social media after Matt James sent up a prayer to mend his and Rachael Kirkconnell’s broken hearts in a somber breakup post that included an image from The Bachelor. He wrote:

Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell kept a pretty low profile after all the drama that ensued on The Bachelor, but given how long they were together — and the obstacles they’d overcome at the start of their relationship — much of Bachelor Nation has long had them pegged as endgame. If the breakup alone wasn’t enough to shock fans, consider the fact that it came just hours after this video of James and Kirkconnell eating pizza together in London:

Is it possible that the pizza video and other posts from their London trip were taken a while ago, and that Matt James had to his fulfill sponsorship agreements before announcing the breakup? Whatever the circumstances, Bachelor Nation had thoughts — some of them quite amusing — as they speculated in the comments section:

• Did we skip to Aprils fools day?! – skylar.michaelis
• How bad was the pizza? – sara.eats.world
• Y’all was just eating pizza together?!? Just get some hot wings and tell her you are sorry 😟 – optimistjay19
• Wait I feel like this is sketch. I can’t believe the break up. Something is happening. – ezahbellahh

Breakups in Bachelor Nation aren’t exactly unusual, so it’s pretty wild to see fans expressing such disbelief over this one. In fact, Rachael Kirkconnell and Matt James’ split seemed so unlikely that many were asking on posts on both of their pages if the ex-Bachelor was possibly hacked. They said:

• It’s so weird. I wonder if he got hacked – lexiii413
• With all due respect, the math ain’t mathing on this one Matt … have you been hacked? – jordannleitnerr
• What is happening was he hacked?? Are you really over ?!?!?? – xoxamyyyy
• He was definitely hacked – mrsdsteve
• I was wondering if he was hacked too!! – stahl_karen

Fans may be suspicious of the timing of the post, but hours after the breakup news started to circulate, neither Matt James nor Rachael Kirkconnell had spoken out with any additional clarity. In fact, the last post on Kirkconnell’s Instagram is a photo from five weeks ago celebrating her partner’s birthday.

Many are sad to see this Bachelor success story come to an end, but I, for one, am ready to watch the dating franchise’s next attempt. Grant Ellis’ season of The Bachelor premieres at 8 p.m. ET Monday, January 27, on ABC and can be streamed the next day with a Hulu subscription.

Diversity has always been a glaring issue for The Bachelor franchise on ABC, as 48 seasons into the reality dating shows — 28 seasons of The Bachelor and 20 of The Bachelorette — only five people of color have been chosen as leads. As Jenn Tran prepares to make history as the first Asian to star on her own season (hitting the 2024 TV schedule on July 8), producers are finally speaking out about the “inexcusable” lack of representation over the past two decades.

Claire Freeland and Bennett Graebner, two of the three executive producers who took over following Mike Fleiss’ exit from the franchise, sat down with the L.A. Times to finally admit that The Bachelor has an embarrassing history when it comes to casting people of color. It’s caused many Bachelor Nation fans to stop watching the reality dating shows, and Graebner acknowledged that, saying: 

Rachel Lindsay was cast as The Bachelorette in 2017, serving as the franchise’s first non-white lead. It wasn’t until 2020 that The Bachelor followed suit, choosing Matt James as its Season 25 star. Even then, however, his love story was overshadowed by a racism scandal involving the eventual winner Rachael Kirkconnell, when photos of her attending an Antebellum-themed fraternity party resurfaced. Bennett Graebner spoke on that as well, saying: 

Going forward, the EPs said the franchise is making it a “priority” to cast another Black Bachelor in the near future, whose season will allegedly correct some of the mistakes made with Matt James.

The Bachelorette has featured slightly more diverse casting in its leads, with Season 20’s Charity Lawson serving as the fourth woman of color to get the gig, following Rachel Lindsay, Tayshia Adams and Michelle Young. However, that doesn’t mean that series has been free of racism. 

Season 19 winner Erich Schwer had a photo resurface as that season aired in 2022 that showed him in Blackface, and while he issued a social media apology, the issue was never addressed on the show itself. (The Bachelor Season 27 contestant Greer Blitzer had a similar Blackface scandal in 2023 that was talked about at the “Women Tell All.”)

Most recently, Rachel Nance of The Bachelor Season 28 opened up about the racism she and her family faced after her appearance on the show, and while host Jesse Palmer expressed regret over the situation, he avoided saying the word “racism” and changed the conversation slightly to make it about the social media hate that all of the contestants had received.

Claire Freeland spoke about that to the L.A. Times, saying:

During this same conversation, Bennett Graebner also added: 

The Bachelor’s executive producers finally addressing the show’s lack of diversity does seem to be a step in the right direction, and we’ll have to wait and see what actions follow. In the meantime, tune in to see Jenn Tran’s journey to find love, with The Bachelorette Season 21 premiering at 8 p.m. ET Monday, July 8, on ABC and available to stream the next day with a Hulu subscription. 

The Bachelor and its spinoffs have been consistently delivering relationship drama to our screens for over two decades, but there likely hasn’t been anything more controversial in that span than the ending to Matt James’ season. A racism scandal involving the eventual winner Rachael Kirkconnell rocked Season 25, causing the couple to temporarily break up, while Chris Harrison — the host since the show’s 2002 inception — lost his job with ABC. Despite everything that happened, James still considers himself a proud alumnus of Bachelor Nation, and he recently opened up about his current relationship with the former host. 

How Matt James Feels About His Experience On The Bachelor 

Matt James made history as The Bachelor’s first Black lead, so it a huge deal when, in the middle of the season that showed him falling in love with Rachael Kirkconnell, it was learned that Kirkconnell had formerly attended an Antebellum-themed fraternity party and had a history of racially insensitive social media activity. It was a tough time for the franchise — and obviously for James and Kirkconnell too — and the former Bachelor got candid with Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes on the Amy & T.J. podcast about why he still looks back fondly at his experience on the show. James said: 

Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell remain a couple three years after they met on The Bachelor Season 25, despite a brief split when the incidents from Kirkconnell’s past resurfaced. The couple got back together about a month after the season finale aired on ABC. James continued: 

I love Matt James’ perspective on choosing what to take away from the experience, but the controversy served as more than a bad hangover for The Bachelor franchise. Chris Harrison ended up stepping away as host after making insensitive remarks of his own while defending Rachael Kirkconnell’s actions in an interview with Rachel Lindsay.  

Has Matt James Spoken With Chris Harrison Since The Controversy? 

So is Matt James still in contact with Chris Harrison? It turns out they’re in the same fantasy football league, so the former Bachelor said they’ve had plenty of conversations. He told the podcast hosts: 

Matt James spoke out after Chris Harrison’s infamous interview, calling it “troubling and painful to watch,” and saying Harrison’s opinions were indicative of “a much larger issue that The Bachelor franchise has fallen short on addressing adequately for years.” 

He also admitted to T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach that there wasn’t much bonding going on between the members of the fantasy football league, but suggested that he wouldn’t be involved in it with Chris Harrison if he had disdain or ill will toward him. James continued: 

The Bachelor Season 25 is definitely one that Bachelor Nation won’t forget any time soon, for better or worse, but it seems that Matt James has gotten past the negativity of the experience and is now able to just focus on the love story of it all. James may be less in the public eye these days, but we can still watch Joey Graziadei’s journey to find love of his own on The Bachelor Season 28. New episodes air at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on ABC and can be streamed the next day with a Hulu subscription. Also be sure to check out our 2024 TV schedule to see what premieres are coming up. 

The weeks are counting down until the premiere of The Golden Bachelor as the latest entry in the Bachelor Nation franchise in the 2023 TV schedule, with the search for love centering on 71-year-old retiree Gerry Turner. ABC has now announced the names of the women who will be vying for his heart on the new show, and one of them has appeared in the franchise before: former Bachelor Matt James' mom Patty is looking for love! 

Patty Cuculo James previously appeared in Season 25 of The Bachelor in 2021 to give her son advice during his search for his future wife, but now she'll be hoping for roses in the first Bachelor Nation series centered on older singles. So, after his Bachelor journey, how does Matt James feel about his mom stepping into the spotlight? The former leading man expressed his feelings via Instagram story:

Way to be a supportive son! Matt James, who made history himself as the first Black lead of The Bachelor, didn't have a ton of words for the announcement of his mom joining The Golden Bachelor, but I think his feelings are pretty clear. It looks like Patty Cuculo James has the full support of her son, which suggests that he's still a fan of the franchise despite a tumultuous experience in his own season. 

Of course, he did find love with Rachael Kirkconnell, with their relationship seemingly going strong (based on their social media presences) circa 2023 despite an earlier breakup due to the same controversy about race that led to the end of Chris Harrison's tenure as Bachelor Nation host. 

As it turns out, Matt James did have more to express about his mom joining The Golden Bachelor after Patty Cucolo James posted about the news on her own Instagram account. Take a look at her celebration of her upcoming search for love:

In the comment section of her post, Matt James chose some fiery emojis that really could speak louder than any words he might have chosen. See for yourself: 

Patty Cuculo James also got some support from another Bachelor Nation alum: Rachael Kirkconnell, who presumably has spent a significant amount of time with the family since restarting her relationship with Matt. She commented:

The excitement on Patty's behalf wasn't limited to Bachelor Nation familiar faces, either. Former Dancing with the Stars pro Lindsay Arnold may not be returning to the ABC show for Season 32, but she was Matt James' dance partner in Season 30, and she dropped by his mom's comment section with some sweet words of encouragement:

Patty Cuculo James is one of 22 women who will try to win the heart of Gerry Turner, who was given a proper introduction beyond a catchphrase during the "Men Tell All" episode of Charity Lawson's season of The Bachelorette, and Lawson herself was immediately all-in on Turner. In ABC's announcement of the 22 women of The Golden Bachelor, Patty is described as "a retired real estate professional from Durham, N.C." 

All of the contestants (and Gerry Turner himself) are between the ages of 60 and 75, with seven of the women at the age of 60 and two of them at 75. At 70, Patty Cuculo James is right in the middle of the age range. Turner is 71, and time is running out before Bachelor Nation fans get to see this new crop of singles begin their Golden Bachelor journey. 

Somewhat hilariously, ABC's fall schedule has paired The Golden Bachelor with Season 9 of Bachelor in Paradise on Thursday nights, and I think it's already safe to say that no two Bachelor Nation shows have been more different than The Golden Bachelor and Paradise. Find out how they compare when they premiere on Thursday, September 28 on ABC!

Clayton Echard hasn’t had an easy journey to find love on The Bachelor. He started out behind the 8 ball when fans didn’t understand why he was cast as the Season 26 lead over others from Michelle Young’s season of The Bachelorette. The mean tweets kept coming once his season started, too, as Echard faced criticism for allowing Shanae Ankney to stay for so long, among other things. As the season draws closer to the end, the Missouri native is apparently trying to get ahead of more potential backlash by asking for help from those who came before him.

The drama on The Bachelor always ramps up as real relationships form and families get involved. Oh yeah, and Fantasy Suites. Promos for Clayton Echard’s season have teased The Bachelor falling in love with his final three, with him admitting that he was intimate with at least two of them. It’s a touchy situation, and Echard is probably right that Bachelor Nation will have some strong opinions about how the rest of the season plays out. E! News reported that the Season 26 lead has contacted some of the show’s former stars for advice on handling the impending fallout. According to a source:

Clayton Echard has said that he was not prepared for the amount of hate he would receive, telling Season 21 Bachelor Nick Viall on the podcast The Viall Files that he had regrets about joining the show. So it only makes sense that he would hit Viall up for some guidance. 

Nick Viall appeared on Seasons 10 and 11 of The Bachelorette (he was the runner-up both times) before leading his own season of The Bachelor. Season 25 Bachelor Matt James called his experience “devastating,” as Rachael Kirkconnell’s race controversy came to light while his season aired — after he’d given her his final rose. Those men are probably good choices to help Clayton Echard weather whatever storms are coming as Echard either finds love or ends up alone. Maybe it won’t be as bad as he thinks, as fans appeared to be coming around following his surprise elimination of Sarah Hamrick in the February 21 episode.

Either way, I’m glad Clayton Echard is doing what he can to prepare for what’s to come by asking for help. Hopefully guys who have been in a similar situation will be able to give him advice on surviving the madness. 

The Bachelor continues on ABC at 8 p.m. ET Monday, February 28, with Hometown dates, which means Fantasy Suites and the “Women Tell All” are just around the corner. In the meantime, check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see what new and returning shows are premiering soon.

Matt James’ season of The Bachelor was jam-packed with drama and controversy, but one storyline overshadowed everything else and caused such backlash that it literally changed the landscape of the Bachelor franchise forever. That storyline, of course, involved the resurfaced 2018 photos of Rachael Kirkconnell at a plantation-themed fraternity party. And now, many months after the scandal first drew national attention and led in part to Chris Harrison's ousting, Kirkconnell has revealed that she'd actually quit the sorority following that party, and said she deleted the problematic photos when she realized “that isn’t who I am or who I want to be.”

Rachael Kirkconnell, who ultimately received Matt James’ final rose, participated in an Instagram Live with the organization From Privilege to Progress, in which she said that the offending 2018 party, which she herself called “racist," was part of the reason she decided to leave her sorority at the time. In her words:

Rachael Kirkconnell claimed she was “completely ignorant” about the implications of the antebellum theme. However, as she’s said in the past, her ignorance is not an excuse for her actions. She also said:

At the time, Kirkconnell said she justified the theme as being part of the fraternity’s tradition, without fully contemplating the bigger picture.

Matt James, the first Black man to lead The Bachelor, gave his final rose to Rachael Kirkconnell in the Season 25 finale, but revealed on the “After the Final Rose” segment that the two had split up amidst the controversy. After being spotted together in New York earlier this year, though, James confirmed in May that the couple had reunited, saying it was "unfair to leave people without the ability to unlearn and be better.” Which makes the timing of Kirkconnell's new admissions all the more curious, since she wasn't being put into a defensive position by anyone.

Perhaps the biggest change to come to the Bachelor franchise after the controversy was the ousting of longtime host Chris Harrison. Harrison participated in an interview with former Bachelorette (and the franchise’s first Black lead) Rachel Lindsay, in which he defended Rachael Kirkconnell. Harrison faced severe backlash for his comments and apologized, but he ultimately parted ways with the franchise, and has yet to return.

Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe took over hosting duties for Katie Thurston and Michelle Young’s seasons of The Bachelorette, and Bachelor in Paradise went in a different direction entirely with its variety of different guest hosts, including superfan David Spade. There’s been no word on who will serve as host Season 26 of The Bachelor, or who the lead will be, for that matter (unless you believe the rumors, that is). In the meantime, Bachelor in Paradise Season 7 is currently airing on ABC, and be sure to check out our 2021 Fall TV Schedule for the premiere dates of all your favorite shows.

Matt James’ Bachelor season was marked by a few controversies. Photos emerged of finalist Rachael Kirkconnell at an Antebellum-themed sorority party, as well as evidence of other insensitive social media posts, which ultimately resulted in James deciding that they couldn’t continue with their relationship. The situation escalated when Chris Harrison had to step down as longtime host after his clumsy defense of Kirkconnell in an interview with Rachel Lindsay. It’s been a few months now, and James and Kirkconnell are reportedly back together – and he has explained his reasons why.

Ever since they were spotted together in New York after the reunion, there has been speculation brewing that Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell were rekindling the relationship they started on The Bachelor. Rumors have been swirling and now quotes from James in The Wall Street Journal (via Too Fab) have seemingly confirmed their relationship is back on. It seems James didn’t want to leave Kirkconnell – who he said he fell in love with on the show – out to dry. He said,

The revelation that Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell are supposedly back together might be a bit shocking to some, especially considering the huge aftermath of The Bachelor Season 25's racial controversy. ABC had to make some changes by bringing in Emmanuel Acho to host the “After the Final Rose” special, as well as Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe as replacement hosts for The Bachelorette. In its announcement of the changing of the guard, the network also promised to “continue the dialogue around achieving greater equity and inclusion.”

On the reverse side, fans who watched Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell’s relationship play out on The Bachelor might not be too surprised about their reconnection. The two clearly shared a spark that James didn’t feel he had with the more than two dozen other women on the show. The heart wants what it wants, and it seems James still wants Kirkconnell, despite issues affecting their relationship that played out publicly while the show was still airing.

Another underlying element behind Matt James’ decision to get back together with Rachael Kirkconnell is apparently also preventing the two from being too public about it. A source for Page Six claimed that James is “feeling the pressure to set a good example for other Black men.” So it seems the first-ever Black Bachelor lead wants to tackle the racial issues in his relationship head-on, rather than continue to drop the conversation altogether, as was suggested by his decision at the reunion.

No doubt Bachelor Nation will have some kind of opinion about Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell moving forward as a couple. The biggest question that will likely be on people’s minds: is love worth all the heartbreak and fallout that resulted from their controversy in the first place? We'll have to wait and see how the story plays out.

This past season of The Bachelor definitely shook up the dialogue surrounding the long-running reality show, starting due to pre-show actions of contestant Rachael Kirkconnell coming to light. She technically got the final rose in the end, yet the racist revelations ultimately led Matt James to not continue with the relationship. But after a very recent sighting of the two, many are now wondering: are they back together?

Reality Steve claimed on Wednesday that Rachael Kirkconnell and Matt James are “not over,” after supposedly being spotted in New York together. If true, the news would be a huge turn of events for Bachelor Nation fans, considering the last time Kirkconnell and James were seen together was at The Bachelor: After the Final Rose. At the time, James explained that the controversy surrounding resurfaced pics of Kirkconnell at an Old South Antebellum party was “problematic” and “disappointing.”

Though Rachael Kirkconnell and Matt James were apparently having a get-together in New York, reports indicate that the two are actually not back in a relationship. A source to Page Six claimed that the two were just hanging out as friends, saying,

The whole situation regarding Rachael Kirkconnell was particularly challenging for Matt James, who was the first Black leading man for The Bachelor in all of its nearly two decades on the air. The drama only escalated when the host of The Bachelor, Chris Harrison, was accused of also being “racially insensitive” when discussing the debacle in his interview with Rachel Lindsay. Harrison has since stepped down from his hosting duties and reportedly lawyered up in the aftermath.

Despite the difficulties of his season, however, Matt James has given hints in the past that he doesn’t see Rachael Kirkconnell as “irredeemable” because of things she did before coming onto the show. In March, James told The Bill Simmons Podcast that though he was disappointed with her, he wanted her “to do better,” saying,

So perhaps this Rachael Kirkconnell/Matt James meeting is just James’ way of giving her the space to redeem herself in his eyes. Or maybe they just share a common bond after a particularly rough season of reality TV together. But surely if the two decide to get back together one day, Bachelor Nation will have something to say about it.

Could Season 25 of The Bachelor be going even further off the rails than previously thought? After accusations of racism and the Chris Harrison fallout, fans of the long-running reality show are now speculating on a new theory about Matt James' love life.

Essentially, fans of the show seem to be under the impression that The Bachelor's Matt James isn't with one of the final three women – Bri, Rachael, or Michelle. The new fan theory (as detailed by Bustle) suggests that James is now secretly dating Heather Martin, who was sent home earlier in the season.

Bachelor Nation has been buzzing since the Women Tell All episode on March 1. Several fans noticed that Heather Martin was strangely edited out of the special that gathered the women to talk about the season's drama. Many fans are speculating that it is an attempt to misdirect them from Matt James’ real choice:

Others are in an uproar about the network’s decision to not give Heather Martin, who was previously in Colton Underwood’s Bachelor season, any screen time to discuss the bullying that went on throughout the season prior to Martin’s exit. But it could also be a means for Martin to not have to give any further clues away to fans:

But they aren’t the only sectors of fans discussing the potential real outcome of The Bachelor. On TikTok, a user also tied Matt James and Heather Martin together as a couple after noting that the two were both in San Clemente, California on the same day, which is considered a big deal since Matt James is a New York native. They question why he would be on the East Coast so soon before The Bachelor finale, if not to be closer to Martin.

Sure, the evidence is circumstantial at best and highly speculative. But there is one more piece of evidence that is a little more damning: Matt James’ mom supporting Heather Martin's business on Instagram. What seemed like a stretch before, now has a bit more credence. How many moms are commenting on your Instagram feed just for being an acquaintance slash friend slash co-star?

On top of mounting speculation about the relationship between the two, Matt James' mom, Patty Cuculo James, chose to write yesterday on one of Heather Martin's photos for her clothing brand Titled Three, saying, “Love this and congratulations on making this happen. I love your #doitafaid motto. So empowering.” Martin quickly responded, “thanks so much Ms. Patty!” Check out the post for yourself:

Is Ms. Patty replying to the dozens of other girls who competed for her son's heart? Unlikely. Tune in to find out who Matt James gives the final rose to on Monday March 8th at 8 p.m. Et on ABC, and perhaps we'll find out more to this mystery. And be sure to share your thoughts on the possible relationship in the poll down below.

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Warning! Potential SPOILERS ahead for the rest of Matt James' Season 25 of The Bachelor. Take all of your roses and look away unless you really need to know!

While I don't think that anyone would call Matt James' season of The Bachelor uplifting or even just plain fun to watch at this point, that doesn't mean that viewers aren't intensely interested in what the outcome will be. This may be even more true because of all of the not-so-behind-the-scenes controversy surrounding one of Matt's frontrunners, his season, and the franchise as a whole. While details on what was to come have been rather spotty so far, we might finally know exactly how Matt ends Season 25 of The Bachelor.

If you've been keeping up with this season, you'll know that we only have fantasy suite dates and the finale left when it comes to following Matt on his journey to falling in love for the very first time, and while we've gotten some rough updates on where things seem to be going, it appears that Reality Steve has been able to solidify a much clearer picture of how things will wrap up. And, if you're a Bri Springs fan, you will not be happy.

So, seeing as how Serena Pitt dumped Matt hard on the previous episode during her hometown date, we're going into fantasy suites with the Final 3, who are Bri, Michelle Young, and Rachael Kirkconnell. Our first bit of info tells us that Matt will eliminate Bri after his overnight date with her, and I suppose we might have to wait until the finale to see how salty this will make the young woman, after she quit her job a few weeks in, so that she could stay on the show.

What comes next is something that we'd heard might be a part of the season, which has already been filled with some major surprises. This one, though, will be fully on screen, as, apparently, the producers did bring in Matt's absentee father to have a chat with him. Supposedly this will be shown after the Final 3 rose ceremony, and, as you might imagine when one is "surprised" with the father who seems to have abandoned him at a young age, things do not go smoothly. Yay, franchise!

After that on-camera trauma, both Michelle and Rachael will meet Matt's mom, who we've seen talking to him about how "love is not the end-all be-all." There's no telling whether or not that moment is before or after she meets either or both of the remaining ladies, but, either way, it doesn't seem like a good omen, does it?

During the evening portion of Matt's date with Michelle he comes clean, and tells her that he loves her, but isn't in love with her, and breaks up with our kind, intelligent, Minnesota queen.

Next up is Matt's last date with Rachael, but he's going to cancel on her at the last minute. The thought right now is that it has nothing to do with her (sigh...), but because Matt needs a bit more time to deal with the emotional fallout of talking to his father and breaking up with Michelle. There will then be some time where the show will make it look like Matt maybe doesn't choose anyone, which, to be honest, once he breaks up with Michelle and Bri, would have been the best option.

But, the next day, Rachael finds a letter which has been slid under her door from Matt. In it, he apologizes for cancelling on her and requests that she meet him by the lake where they had their date before fantasy suites. When she arrives, it's set up like a final rose ceremony. Rachael tells Matt that the cancellation hurt her, but she loves him and isn't going to give up. Matt will basically echo her sentiments by saying he loves her and can't picture life without her, but, he also says he can't propose. She seems cool with it, accepts his final rose, and they leave as a couple.

If you think this is the end of the (potential) story, though, you truly have not been paying attention. From what Reality Steve has learned, it appears that Matt and Rachael were together through Valentine's Day weekend, after which he broke things off as soon as he got home. Steve doesn't have a clear read at this point on the reason Matt gave her, though I bet we can all lob some pretty good guesses as to why.

After the Final Rose tapes this week, so we'll all likely be able to hear more about what went down between Matt and Rachael when it airs in a couple of weeks.

The Bachelor franchise has never been short on drama, but real-life racial controversy has surrounded Matt James' run in Bachelor Nation ever since social media images surfaced showing that contestant Rachael Kirkconnell attended an Antebellum party while in school in 2018. Longtime Bachelor Nation host Chris Harrison added fuel to the fire when he gave an interview defending Kirkconnell and speaking out against cancel culture. Both Harrison and Kirkconnell released apologies, but James himself had held his silence as new episodes of The Bachelor continued to air. Now, that has changed, and James addressed the situation.

In a statement that Matt James posted on Instagram, he revealed that he's learning about the controversy "in real time" and that the troubling information about Rachael Kirkconnell that led to Chris Harrison's controversial remarks didn't come to light before the end of filming on his season of The Bachelor. James said:

Considering spoilers indicate that Rachael Kirkconnell ends the season receiving the final rose from Matt James, it's no wonder that he has had to take some time to process everything that has happened. The situation has also only gotten more complicated since the images of Kirkconnell at the Antebellum started circulating on the web, starting with Chris Harrison's interview with Rachel Lindsay (who of course made Bachelor Nation history as the first Black lead of one of the series) and then leading to the apologies from Harrison and Kirkconnell and Harrison stepping away from the franchise.

Rachel Lindsay (who stands as one of the relatively few Bachelor Nation leads to actually get the happily-ever-after) has since announced that she's done with Bachelor Nation after her current contract with the franchise is up. Considering that she was one of the names floated among fans as a potential replacement for Chris Harrison in the short term or in the event that he leaves the franchise for good in the wake of this controversy, Lindsay's decision is no small deal.

As for Matt James, he didn't say what his plans in the long term are, as his season of The Bachelor isn't even done airing. Depending on if he did choose Rachael Kirkconnell in the finale, he might have some immediate issues to deal with on the relationship front. That said, James did elaborate on his perspective on Bachelor Nation in the wake of these controversies and his hopes for what discussion on race means for the future of the franchise:

Race has been a topic of conversation on camera during Matt James' season of The Bachelor, which comes after viewer calls for Bachelor Nation to cast more leads of color when Rachel Lindsay previously stood as the only Black star of one of the seasons of one of the shows. James is also unique for starring in The Bachelor without first appearing on The Bachelorette, although his close friend Tyler Cameron was a contestant.

It should be interesting to see what more Matt James has to say about the situation as he continues to process his Bachelor experience, particularly when his season comes to an end and he doesn't have to protect the secrets of how the romances go down. For now, you can find his season of The Bachelor airing on ABC Mondays 8 p.m. ET.

Warning! Spoilers ahead for the most recent episode of Matt James' Season 25 of The Bachelor. Look away until you catch up or be sure to have your heart broken!

Listen, everyone who participates in Bachelor Nation fully understands that becoming attached to the women or men who attempt to win the heart of the lead on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette is a tricky business. Not only might you find yourself rooting for someone who ends up being problematic, but there's also the very real issue of the lead potentially not being as into said suitor as you are. Basically, we all know that some of our favorites are going to be sent packing, but a recent breakup seems to have been way harder on fans than the woman who was actually sent home.

After a lot of early drama on Matt James' season of The Bachelor, things are finally getting down to the wire, with hometowns coming up very, very soon. So, Matt is in need of a culling, and he got down to that business on last night's episode. He ended up sending several favorites home, these include Serena Chew, Heather Martin (thank goodness for that), Chelsea Vaughn (farewell to the chicest contestant ever), Jessenia Cruz, and Pieper James, while Kit Keenan pulled a dumpation on Matt and self-eliminated.

Unfortunately, another woman who was sent home by Matt last night just so happened to have been the lady to get his first impression rose, and this has sent fans into quite the tizzy on Twitter. That's right, folks, Abigail Heringer had to leave Nemacolin without even getting a hometown date. And viewers are not pleased.

Oooh. It stings! It really stings, y'all! There are few of us who didn't favor Abigail right off the bat, including, obviously, Matt. She was sweet and immediately forthcoming about her hearing loss. On top of that, Abigail was never involved in the bullying among the women and she and Matt also had a single-parent upbringing in common. But, his affection for her was quickly overwhelmed by all of the drama / bullying, and Matt ended up not spending enough time with Abigail to really see where their relationship could go.

Now, don't get me wrong. Abigail was plenty upset. But, I applaud her for, after several weeks of wondering why she hadn't had any more time with Matt, and had never gotten a 1-on-1 date with him, asking Matt outright if he could see a future with her, like she could with him. This led to Matt having to face up to the fact that he was so sure of their connection at the beginning that he ignored Abigail, and ended up becoming closer to other women. Now, though, fans seem to think that someone else may be better suited for Abigail's attentions:

You know what? After that breakup, and nearly a full season of Matt allowing himself to be distracted by all the bullshit in the house and the 5.5 million other women who were brought on to vie for his heart, I can totally see where Abigail and The Bachelorette's Ivan Hall might be a good match. However, there are many other fans who think there's a way better answer for Abigail than just setting her up with good guy Ivan:

To be honest, even though we didn't see much of Abigail in Season 25, I think she's capable of standing up for herself enough to be pretty good at choosing between 25 to 30 men should she (and not Katie Thurston) win the Bachelorette lotto. Sure, she'd be taken in by someone who's not good enough for her, but nearly every lead is. Her willingness to take her problem to Matt has me hopeful that she wouldn't put up with any mess for too long, though.

While fans were clearly heartbroken over losing Abigail, the move did hit her pretty hard, as well. As she said while on her way out of Nemacolin:

Awww! Don't worry Abigail, you will be alright! Until we can see if Abigail shows up in the franchise again, we can all keep up with Matt's season as it airs every Monday, on ABC, at 8 p.m. EST.

If you've been keeping up with Season 25 of The Bachelor, you'll know that one of the standouts among the women Matt James has had on his season is Katie Thurston. The funny lady has turned out to be quite gutsy in many ways, and fans have been calling for her to be our next star of The Bachelorette for a few weeks now. But, how does Matt feel about this possibility? He's now opened up about fans' hope that Katie will be Bachelorette in 2021.

Katie Thurston has become one of the true surprises of Matt James' Season 25 of The Bachelor. The lovely lady showed up on the first night with a very...expressive vibrator and seemed destined to be this season's comedic relief. Instead, Katie quickly turned into one of the heroes of the franchise, as she has been the main person for the first part of the season who was determined to stand up to the bullies among the contestants. Matt recently spoke to Entertainment Tonight, and talked about his thoughts on Katie maybe becoming the next lead of The Bachelorette, saying:

Matt is certainly correct that Katie "handled her business" while she was at Nemacolin. Not only did she take it upon herself to confront the women and try to urge them to be decent humans to each other, but she also showed no shame in directly talking to the bullies and calling out their abhorrent behavior. And, when that didn't work, she went to Matt and brought up the toxicity of the group, so that he would be aware and could try to handle the situation as he wanted to.

That led to all of the main bullies in the house (finally) being sent home by Matt (after Katie won a confrontation with a certain supposed "queen" who tried to shame her for her vibrator habits), and Katie got herself a 1-on-1 after showing that she was willing to stand up for others, regardless of whether or not it could hurt her changes with Matt.

Of course, Katie ended up being sent home by Matt during the evening portion of their date, and all of the fan love for her is now combined with a pretty big rumor about her chances of leading The Bachelorette.

Bachelor Nation spoiler king Reality Steve has reported that Katie will, in fact, be announced as The Bachelorette for Season 17, noting that she was officially appointed as such during the taping of the Women Tell All, which occurred last Thursday. Obviously, none of this has been confirmed by either ABC or the producers right now, but he did nail the fact that she would get sent home last night (and has been known to have correct info frequently), so it's not impossible that fan dreams could come true.

It's always good to hear that a lead is supportive of a fan pick to lead the next Bachelor franchise show, so it seems that audiences are on track when it comes to wanting Katie Thurston as the next star of The Bachelorette. All we have to do now is wait and see if Katie, is, in fact, the new lead. The Bachelor will eventually let us in on the secret, when new episodes air every Monday, at 8 p.m. EST, on ABC.

Warning! Potential Spoilers ahead for tonight's episode of The Bachelor and this year's season of The Bachelorette!

While all of Bachelor Nation is, obviously, awaiting each new weekly installment of Matt James' season of The Bachelor with bated breath so that we can plow through all of the drama and lovey-dovey action, there's also one other thing we're beginning to wonder about at length: Who will be the next star of The Bachelorette?! Even though a lot of the women on Matt's season have displayed some true trash goblin behavior, there are still some solid contenders in place. And, we think we might now know who the star of Season 17 of The Bacheorette might be, along with when she'll be announced.

As you'll likely know by now if you pay attention to spoilers on The Bachelor, Matt's season has been light on most details being leaked, probably because of the tight "bubble" filming process for Season 25. But, some info has trickled its way down to Reality Steve, he of the (usually pretty correct) franchise spoilers, and now he believes his sources have come through with the biggest detail for the next season of The Bachelorette. According to Steve, the lead to take over from reigning Bachelorette Tayshia Adams will be none other than vibrator queen Katie Thurston!

On top of that, from what Steve has determined, Katie will be announced as the lead for Season 17 of The Bachelorette during the Women Tell All episode, which was actually filmed last Thursday, and is why this spoiler has now been released. You probably know that Katie is still vying for Matt's heart as of last week's episode, but, according to Steve, that will change tonight. Apparently, we will see Matt and Katie have a 1-on-1 date this evening, and he will eliminate her sometime during those festivities.

I'm sure you remember how Katie was introduced to Bachelor Nation, as she arrived on night one with something which "got her through a lot" in the past several months of quarantine. Few of us will forget that that that special something was a very showy vibrator, which Katie proceeded to brandish as though it were an extension of her arm for the remainder of the first night. But, while it originally seems that Katie might be our reliable comic relief or maybe even a minor villain, fans have been very surprised at her journey on the show so far.

When bullying became an issue among the ladies on the show, Katie quickly took action and has been one of the few to stand up to those bullies, call them out for their behavior, and not back down, even though it could have alienated her from the other women. This is especially true since Katie was never really a target of the bullying herself, and could have easily stayed out of the whole mess to try and keep herself safe from any drama which might damage her standing with Matt.

Instead, she's become a standout and a favorite with fans for consistently (and very directly) asking the bullies to be kind and do better, and not being afraid to point out their toxic ways to their faces. And, when that didn't work, Katie went to Matt to let him know what had been going on.

Not only did that result in everyone finally being able to say goodbye to the dumpster fire that was the "queen" whom shall no longer be named, as well as one rumor-spreading contestant, but, as far as I know, Katie has been the only one to make such a move and not be immediately punished for it by being sent home for seeming to make an attempt at stirring up trouble.

Basically, while I think many of us would have loved to see other ladies, such as Chelsea Vaughn, Abigail Heringer, Michelle Young, or Bri Springs get a shot at being The Bachelorette this year, Katie Thurston is still a great choice, and I can't wait to see how she handles dating a gaggle of men in quarantine.

We can see, for sure, if Katie is our new star of The Bachelorette by following along with The Bachelor as it continues to air, Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.

Warning! Potential spoilers for Season 25 of The Bachelor, starring Matt James, are ahead. Only continue if there aren't enough cocktail parties in the world to quell your curiosity!

We still have quite a ways to go when it comes to watching Matt James try to find his one, true love on this season of The Bachelor. Matt has already found several favorites, but he's also having a hard time dealing with the drama among the women, and is in sore need of a whittling down in the cast so that he can spend more time with the ladies he really likes. There haven't been a ton of spoilers this season, but we do think we know whom he chose at the end. So, does Matt actually get engaged in his finale? We may now have our answer.

Even though Matt already lost one woman who seemed like a serious contender for his heart when Sarah Trott decided to leave early after realizing she didn't quite have her head in the love game right now, he still has several women left who have touched his heart (and some other places). While we all want to see how Matt's season plays out, we also really, really want to know if he's going to leave his finale as an engaged man. Well, according to spoiler king Reality Steve, Matt did not propose or get engaged while the cameras initially rolled on his season.

Obviously, if this turns out to be true, it will not be the most shocking thing to have happened in the world of The Bachelor. There is only one Bachelor who did propose on the show and actually married that woman (Hey, Sean and Catherine!). And, if you don't recall (which is understandable, seeing as how every season earlier than this one now feels like it happened 1.2 million years ago), a recent past Bachelor season saw the lead and his Final Rose leave the show without becoming engaged. 

In 2019, Colton Underwood sent two of his final three home to go after Cassie Randolph, even though she said she wasn't ready, and dated for a while after the show. Even that romance did not end well, so it's probably for the best that Matt doesn't propose if he's not quite feeling like it's the right move.

Viewers have seen that contestants like Chelsea Vaughn, Abigail Heringer, and (shockingly) Kit Keenan have made quite the impression on Matt so far. But, spoilers point toward other favorites Michelle Young, Bri Springs, Rachael Kirkconnell, and Serena Pitt being the ones granted hometown dates near the end. We've also been told that, apparently, Matt will continue to be impressed with Rachael (and she with him) and that she'll end up as the one he walks off into the Pennsylvania sunset with. Which makes a lot of sense, seeing as how we just saw them say they're falling in love.

Until recently, Reality Steve's intel was unclear as to the current status of Matt and Rachael's relationship, but he feels confident now to say that the two are still together, but without any Neil Lane-sized proof of that commitment. There's no word right now about why Matt didn't propose, but I can only imagine that that's something we will get to see in the finale. Supposedly, Matt will also be confronted with his commitment issues later this season when his dad shows up, so it might have something to do with him realizing he still has some stuff to work out before he can make such a big step.

We'll all be able to see how Matt's journey goes when The Bachelor airs every Monday at 8 p.m. EST on ABC. For more to watch in the coming weeks, check out our guide to early 2021 TV!

Warning! Potential SPOILERS ahead for the remainder of Matt James' Season 25 of The Bachelor. Come back once you have all of your roses in a row!

If you've been keeping up with Matt James' current run on The Bachelor, you'll know that this season has not disappointed when it comes to offering up tears, conflict and many assorted kinds of drama, mostly when it comes down to the relationships between the women who are vying for Matt's heart. While we knew we wouldn't be getting weekly spoilers on each Season 25 episode, some new information has come to light which suggests that Matt might be in for a major shock before his finale.

Of course, word on this big event comes to us courtesy of Reality Steve, he of the (almost) all-knowing Bachelor Nation spoilers. Apparently, some new details on the remainder of this season have come to light recently, and Steve feels comfortable enough with the source of this information to share. Hold on, folks, because it sounds like The Bachelor is going to bring in Matt's dad before the season is over.

Right now, it doesn't appear that there are any clues or more concrete word on just when said moment will happen, but if Matt's father is, indeed, a part of his season, it will be a pretty big deal that is sure to get fans talking. Matt has spoken quite a lot about how his mother was a single mom and raised he and his brother alone. He's even managed to bond with some of the ladies on his season about it, as they had similar upbringings.

In addition, his mom is white, and Matt was also able to connect to contestant Bri Springs when she revealed that she was also bi-racial and raised by her non-black mother.

Matt has said very little about his father during the season so far. All that viewers have heard is that his dad is black and left the family when Matt and his brother were young. Even though it's been strongly implied that neither sibling has much, if any, relationship with their dad, we haven't heard Matt confirm that so far. We also don't know anything about what led the elder man to leave his children behind when the marriage to their mother soured.

OK, I'm going to go ahead and say what (probably) most of us are thinking right now. Matt was likely blindsided on his season by an appearance from his dad, and, if that's what happened, The Bachelor is beyond shitty for doing such a thing. Even if producers did tell him there was a possibility they could instigate a sit-down with him and his dad, I can certainly see where Matt wouldn't feel like he was able to say no to it had he wanted to.

A large portion of Matt's story as Bachelor has focused on him acknowledging that he has a hard time opening up and letting in the women he dates, mostly because of how hard he says it was to grow up without a father and how having what he has called a "broken family and broken marriage" affected all of their lives. So, while it makes sense that the show would want to focus on the root of this problem by having Matt talk to his dad, it seems like a real rough road to force that kind of thing to happen just so that we can all watch it unfold dramatically on TV.

Reality Steve's thought is that the scene they've been teasing all season, where Matt and Chris Harrison sit on a curb and Matt is clearly shaken and crying, actually has nothing to do with any of the women, but is the moment where Matt is either told they have his dad waiting to talk to him, or he's just spoken with the man.

So, how does this major shock turn out for Matt? Steve thinks that, considering how it already looks bad for production to have done this, the meeting will be emotional but not a total disaster, so that producers can say, "Hey, we helped Matt find closure," or something that makes this move seem less manipulative.

Again, we don't know when this might happen, if it does, so we'll all just have to keep tuning in to The Bachelor, Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC. For more on what to watch, check out our guide to early 2021 TV premieres.

We are four episodes into Matt James leading Season 25 of The Bachelor, and let me tell you, the amount of drama on this season has not disappointed so far. Many of the ladies who are currently vying for Matt's heart have been in a state since night one (Thanks for nothing, Victoria!), and last night's episode saw five additional lovelies brought in to try and dazzle our leading man. As you might imagine, the women from Matt's original group (OG from here on out) were none too pleased at that development. But, now we're hearing why The Bachelor brought new women in during Matt's season.

Matt had already begun his season with more than his share of women to choose from, even by The Bachelor standards. The number of potential fiancées generally tops out at about 25, but Matt was presented with 32 impressive options as he started the season. By last night, he'd finally gotten that number down to a (somewhat) manageable 18, but during an early episode cocktail party, Matt's convo with Victoria is interrupted by Chris Harrison, who takes a stunned Matt outside to meet his five new women.

So, why did The Bachelor pull this brand new move and bring in additional ladies several weeks into filming? Here's what ABC's Rob Mills told Variety:

OK, Rob Mills. I mean, I understand the thought process he's trying to reveal here, but I don't fully buy it. I can believe that they had tons of women who desperately wanted to either meet Matt once he was announced (quite early) as the Bachelor, or who simply applied so they could have some resort quarantine relief from the pandemic. But, I cannot totally believe that there was zero interest from the producers in bringing the new ladies on several weeks in "just to shake things up," because they 100% knew that's exactly what would happen.

Many of Matt's OG women were, to put it mildly, super duper pissed, when they saw that more women were being thrown into the group, and while a decent number of the OGs kept calm about it (or at least appeared calm) there were just enough others who pitched very vocal fits that our mature queen Katie felt it best to try and shut that shit down by talking to Matt about the bullying which was going on at the end of last night's episode.

A dedicated group of OGs have taken it upon themselves to make the new women (four of whom got roses and were allowed to stick around) feel very unwelcome, even though we all know it's not their fault they were shoved into show at a relatively late stage of the game. Rumors even flew (I'm looking at you, Anna!) that new addition Brittany is a, well-known in Chicago, sex worker, which she denied several times.

Season 25 of The Bachelor is our second franchise season in a row which had to be filmed in a bubble because of our ongoing health crisis, and I understand the need to make sure there was both plenty to do at the resort in Pennsylvania where they filmed, and plenty of drama to go around. So, I'm sure they did take the opportunity to vet way more ladies than usual so that they could keep some on hold for later in filming. And, you can bet that it's had the desired effect of giving fans some newness while also amping up the potential for backstabbing, miscommunication, tearful conversations and, you know, love.

We can all see how the new arrivals fare as The Bachelor continues, every Monday on ABC, at 8 p.m. EST. For more to watch in the coming weeks, check out our guide to early 2021 TV!

Warning: Potential SPOILERS ahead for Matt James Season 25 of The Bachelor. Look away unless you're cool with getting all of your roses at once!

As could be expected by now, even after only three weeks on the air, Matt James' season of The Bachelor has already been filled with plenty of odd moments, priceless hilarity and a healthy heaping of drama. But, while we'd been told not to expect week-to-week spoilers on everything from the group dates to the rose ceremonies and all the lovey-dovey stuff in between, it sounds like we might now know how his last eliminations turn out, as well as who gets Matt's final rose.

Even though quarantine filming at Pennsyvania's Nemacolin resort likely led to the lack of spoilerrific info for Matt's season, it's now sounding like Reality Steve finally has the confirmation he's been waiting on to dole out details of the last few episodes of Season 25. Bachelor Nation was told right before the premiere of Matt's time as lead of The Bachelor not to expect the copious spoilers we typically get for each season, with Steve not being able to tell us for sure who he believed walked off with Matt's final rose.

Now, though, Steve's intel is looking less shaky and a lot more like the real deal, so he's got Matt's final eliminations and the (apparent) winner of his heart all laid out for fans. Let's work our way up and give you the Final 5 ladies who Matt will have to choose from, shall we? And, if you were a fan of an early favorite who captured his heart very quickly, you will either be shocked she doesn't make it further or glad she gets as far as she does: Abigail Heringer.

If you'll recall, Abigail is the one who nabbed Matt's first impression rose on the first night right after the arrivals and a bit of getting to know you time. While he clearly had a soft spot for her from the beginning, Abigail hasn't had much screen time in the subsequent weeks, with a lot more attention being paid to the drama with Victoria Larson, vibrator-bearing Katie Thurston becoming an all-around great example, and Sarah Trott flaming out amid a lot of negative attention from many of the other ladies. Fifth place isn't bad for Abigail, but first rose winners have been known to make it further.

Next, according to Steve, the four hometown dates (which were still filmed at the resort and saw all the families travel there to meet with Matt and his appropriate lady friend) will go to Serena Pitt, Rachael Kirkconnell, Bri Springs, and Michelle Young (who will be one of the five new arrivals tonight). His information says that we'll be saying goodbye to Serena after hometowns, and that Bri will be sent packing after the fantasy suite dates.

This leaves us with Michelle and Rachael, and while Michelle is clearly going to make a solid showing for someone who shows up quite late in the process, her big impression-making status of getting all the way to Matt's Final 2 will end there. That's right, folks. It appears that Rachael Kirkconnell grabs a hold of Matt's heart something fierce during the remainder of the season, and she rounds out her time on the show with Matt's Final Rose.

In case you're wondering, all of this does corroborate the early details that Reality Steve got for the end of Season 25. He has now, apparently, gotten the information that he needed to confirm Bri's position as a hometown date winner (he had only been able to set Michelle, Serena, and Rachael before), as well as the report that Michelle would be making it very close to the end, and declaring that Rachael is the one who wins Matt's ultimate affection.

The only thing that's still up in the air is the full current status of Matt and Rachael's love story, seeing as how Steve can only vouch for the couple still being together, but not whether or not they are engaged.

All we have to do now is follow along with The Bachelor each week when it airs Mondays on ABC, at 8 p.m. EST, to see if everything plays out the way we now expect it to.

We're only two weeks into Matt James taking the lead on The Bachelor, but his history-making turn as rose-giver extraordinaire already has people taking about so much more than the intense drama on screen. While we've definitely been treated to some back-stabbing, laughs, tears, and a scary ATV crash, one thing people really can't stop talking about is whether or not our First Black Bachelor will choose a woman of color at the end. There are some fans in Bachelor Nation who think that he'll pick a white woman to propose to in the final moments, and now Matt James has spoken out about why those rumors are so "frustrating" for him.

Matt has been making the rounds lately so that he can talk about his time on The Bachelor, which actually finished filming several weeks ago. He made a recent appearance on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast with hosts (and former Bachelorettes) Becca Kufrin and Rachel Lindsay, and when asked about the rumor that he's absolutely going to find a white woman to be his forever love, had this to say:

OK, so here's how this rumor that Matt was destined to pick a white woman really got started in the first place. During his season premiere, before Matt met any of his potential fiancées, he sat down with Bachelor host Chris Harrison and talked about the pressure he felt from being the first black man to lead the franchise. He talked to Chris about not wanting to upset anyone with his final choice, with it being intimated that he felt black fans were hoping he'd pick a black woman. This made many viewers believe he was sending a word of warning to let us all know that he has no intention of doing that.

What Matt seems to have said with his interview, though, is that he didn't go into this experience with any set goal of picking a white woman, and he also wasn't trying to make it seem like that was what he was really looking for, either. From what we've seen of how Matt has conducted himself so far, he does appear to be getting to know everyone with equal gusto.

Matt also noted that the cast of The Bachelor this season is multicultural, because that's how he's always dated in real life. He added:

The truth is that whatever Matt's intentions on Season 25 of The Bachelor, there are still going to be people who may be disappointed with his ultimate choice, and it might be because of the woman's race. There's really nothing he can do about that, and many fans truly just want him to continue to give everyone a fair shot and, as Matt said, find someone he's happy with who is also happy with him.

We can all watch how Matt's journey to true love unfolds every Monday, when The Bachelor airs on ABC at 8 p.m. EST.

Never let it be said that Matt James went through his whole experience as the lead of The Bachelor and didn't come out with some lessons learned. While it's true that Bachelor Nation is only two episodes deep into his stint on Season 25, Matt's been done filming for quite some time. He's probably already been able to look back on the season and figure out what was important, but his good friend, Tyler Cameron, has decided to help out by having them go all 40-Year-Old-Virgin and get Brazilian waxes.

OK, I know what you're probably asking yourselves: How, in the world, does suffering through a painful Brazilian wax help Matt James reflect on his time as The Bachelor? I'm so glad you asked! See, The Bachelorette's Tyler Cameron thought it would be helpful for his friend to know what (possibly) all of the women who vied for his love this season went through when getting prepared for the show. So, Tyler took Matt and a couple of their friends to a spa, where they filmed themselves getting several treatments, including Brazilian waxes. Take a look at the video Tyler posted on YouTube!

OK. You can't blame them for giving it a shot, I suppose. Hopefully they at least took some aspirin or something beforehand, because going in totally unmedicated seems like a bad idea. Even if Matt, Tyler and their friends did take advantage of the modern marvels of pain medicine, it's pretty clear that it still hurt a lot, so kudos to them for their commitment to following through, and dedication to making sure we got to see all of their delightful screams and funny faces.

Luckily, Matt, Tyler and their porn 'stache's were shown first in the roughly 10 minute clip, so that if we couldn't take any more of the sight of good looking men releasing their inner demons as a stranger rips the hairs from their nethers, well, we could just move along quickly.

While all of the man-screaming and twisted faces will surely do a lot to entertain, one of my favorite parts of the video is being able to hear the instructions from the woman / women handling the work on said nether regions. That dialogue is at turns either wonderfully blasé and matter of fact ("You want me to clean up around here, or what? What's going on?") to outright annoyance ("I need you to take a deep breath, and I need you to relax, because otherwise this isn't going to work out for you."), and it's just a joy to hear all around.

Even though we're only two episodes into Matt's season of The Bachelor, we've already seen what some of the women have had to go through to try and get his attention. The arrivals on night one alone included a woman who showed up in a pizza delivery vehicle, one woman who drove a classic truck in instead of taking the limo, a particularly creative woman who showed up in her lingerie and let Matt choose her dress, and a funny lady who brandished a vibrator for the entire night. I can only imagine that someone would have really caught Matt's eye if she'd had her Brazilian wax done in front of him.

Matt seems like he's truly taking the time to get to know the ladies on his season, so I'm sure his time on the waxing table will help him understand what his potential fiancées went through even more. We can see how Matt continues to handle his journey when The Bachelor airs every Monday on ABC, at 8 p.m. EST.

Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Bachelor episode "2502". Read at your own risk!

The Bachelor has only just started its latest season on ABC, and there's already some drama amongst the women vying for Matt James' heart. The latest episode could've been a relatively chill installment filled with casual competition and fans getting to know more about the women and how they go about interacting with Matt. But that wouldn't be The Bachelor. So instead of that, one particularly wild female contestant dominated the screen time to the point where some viewers are wondering if she's actually for real. So, what's the deal with Victoria Larson, and why did she cause so much drama in the house?

The edit of tonight's episode certainly didn't help shine a positive light on anything, and there was no shortage of viewers who were outright disgusted by the actions of "Queen Victoria. Victoria Larson immediately kicked off the drama after she wasn't selected to do the sole solo date with Matt. As opposed to unifying with the rest of the ladies in shared disappointment, she proceeded to tell them how she wasn't "fake" like they all were.

It was certainly a strong statement for someone who literally listed her occupation as "queen" on the show, though there's no denying Victoria felt she should be honored like one. After her original argument with the rest of the women, Victoria Larson again caused tension by injecting herself into someone else's photoshoot, and then more or less demanding her turn to have a wedding photoshoot with Matt James. Victoria seemed proud of how she asserted herself and how the encounter went, but all viewers saw was the kiss she had to ask Matt for. And it didn't exactly make steam come out of people's TVs.

It's clear to both viewers and many of the women in the house that Victoria Larson is a drama starter, and while she might be playing games to stand out, it's unclear whether or not Matt James is aware. In fact, before any of the women got a chance to get some quality face time with Matt one evening, Victoria ground the proceedings to a halt with performative projection. In what was either a diabolical or pretty clever game move, Victoria set out to make herself look like a victim by accusing Marylynn Sienna of doing the things that fans went on to claim that Victoria is doing.

Victoria Larson has a distinct energy on The Bachelor that no other woman in the house seems capable of matching this early on, and the fact that she's the sole source of drama at this point in the show has some fans suspicious. It's truly unbelievable someone would start the season by playing so messy so quickly, which caused some viewers to believe she had to have been planted by producers to spice things up.

Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if Victoria Larson was brought on to stir the pot, but I don't think The Bachelor needs a plant. This may be a case where the show's casting found someone who would be a great villain within the house, more so than they may be an actual match with Matt James. Plus, if it's any consolation, Victoria Larson seems just as miserable about the situation on the show as fans do with tolerating her antics, so it kind of balances out.

Thanks to a fainting spell at the episode's rose ceremony, The Bachelor's second episode didn't even reveal whether or not Victoria Larson got the rose, or if she succeeded in pushing Marylynn Sienna out of the house. With that said, previews for the next episode seemed to show Victoria butting heads with even more hopefuls, so it seems safe to assume she'll hold out a bit longer. This will give viewers more time to see her in action, and perhaps find a way to appreciate her wild antics as the season continues. Let us know what you think in the poll below.

The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for more on the franchise and more happening in television and movies.

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The Bachelor Season 25 has officially been underway with new lead Matt James for a week, and while they finished filming a while ago, we've seen plenty of teases about what we can expect to witness in the coming weeks. As with pretty much every season, there will be a lot of drama, some tears, the inevitable dates that require flying or daring-do, and a lot of romance. But, something that hasn't been a part of any ABC promos are some real life specifics about all of that romantic activity, and now the owner of the resort where they filmed The Bachelor has admitted that people got busy everywhere during production.

Members of Bachelor Nation will know that, typically, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette spend a good part of the beginning of each season at the Bachelor Mansion, while later parts of the seasons are spent gallivanting around the country and globe. Our pesky pandemic changed all of that last year, with The Bachelorette having to film at a resort in Palm Springs, and Matt's season of The Bachelor heading to the Nemacolin Resort in Pennsylvania for the entire duration of production. 

According to the resort's owner, Maggie Hardy Knox, while Matt and his many ladies were looking for love, someone was having sex all over the property. As she told Page Six:

Obviously, if you work at any kind of hotel, especially if you are charged with cleaning up rooms or even public spaces, you're going to see a lot of things that none of us really want to think about, much less be faced with on a daily basis. But, I can confirm right now, that if I were a landscaper, arborist, or someone else who might take care of the green spaces around Nemacolin, I would be highly displeased to find a used condom tossed carelessly onto a tree branch.

I can only assume that Maggie Hardy Knox doesn't know who the condom belonged to (I certainly don't want to think about the implications if she does), but it sounds like something about this palatial Pennsylvania property really inspired the crew (and cast?) of The Bachelor to get their freak on anytime and anyplace. And, I have so many questions.

First of all, were these people not afraid of being caught? Even if you and your intended quietly made your way to the very edge of the property, with a whole ass production team around, there would be no guarantee that a camera person / producers / Chris Harrison wouldn't come rumbling up on an ATV and catch you in flagrante delicto. Secondly, while it's clear that this couple (group?) came prepared (hence the condom), was no one squicked out by the idea of rolling around on the ground or roughing it up against said tree? 

Even if they arranged some sort of blanket / pillow situation beforehand, this just doesn't sound like the most comfortable way to engage in some nookie boogie.

Doing it out among nature is one thing, but I don't even want to know how the owner and her staff realized that sexual happenings were taking place in other, non-bedroom, locations. Nope! Don't do that! Don't make suggestions. I said I didn't want to know! Clearly, Maggie Hardy Knox has an inside line on how The Bachelor went down this season, but she's not going to give anything concrete away, save for this bit of info:

OMG, you guys. I need a weave to come off, tonight, OK? We can all see how Matt James and his potential fiancées progress on Season 25 of The Bachelor when it airs new episodes every Monday, on ABC, at 8 p.m. EST!

Spoilers ahead for the Season 25 premiere of The Bachelor on ABC.

The Bachelor has finally returned to ABC with a new season, with Matt James as the latest leading man looking for love. In a departure from the norm, however, The Bachelor selected a star who hasn't already made an appearance in Bachelor Nation, and his closest tie to the franchise was previously just his friendship with former Bachelorette suitor Tyler Cameron. Now that his search for love as Bachelor leading man has begun and viewers got a look at the ladies vying for his heart, James may have already revealed a happy ending despite the drama.

Speaking with THR about his season of The Bachelor, Matt James said this about his journey:

As per usual, The Bachelor Season 25 is being hyped for the level of drama that it will deliver to fans, but Matt James' comments could indicate that he really does find a happily-ever-after with one of the women who received roses to stay in the game at the end of the premiere.

Of course, it's always possible that Matt James is "very happy" because The Bachelor was a satisfying journey even if it didn't end with an engagement ring on anybody's finger. We can only speculate (and/or check out spoilers) for what happens next. Considering the wild ride to James becoming the Bachelor and the craziness that is likely still to come, I'm guessing he'll have earned his happiness by the end!

For one thing, Matt James was originally cast for Bachelor Nation as one of the men who would vie for Clare Crawley's heart on her season of The Bachelorette, which itself was especially dramatic with Tayshia Adams stepping into the spotlight after Crawley found love early. Before he turned up on The Bachelorette, he was offered the chance to star in the next season of The Bachelor despite never appearing on any other Bachelor Nation installment, and he stands as the first Black lead of The Bachelor.

And his unconventional journey to becoming the first Black Bachelor wasn't even the biggest twist in the sequence of events! Instead of landing a season that would involve traveling all over the world for incredible and exotic dates, Matt James would spend his entire season at the Nemacolin Resort in Pennsylvania due to the pandemic.

The good news is that the premiere revealed the Nemacolin Resort looks more like a castle than a hotel, and Matt James and the ladies trying to become Mrs. James almost certainly won't be dripping with sweat every time they step outside like the cast of the latest season of The Bachelorette, filmed at the La Quinta Resort & Club in Palm Springs, California.

As for how Matt James gets to the point where he's very happy, it's probably too early to say which of the women has the best shot. Client financial manager Abigail Heringer received the first impression rose of Season 25, although fans may have been left with more memorable impressions from Katie Thurston with her vibrator in tow and Victoria "Queen Victoria" Larson. The next new episode of The Bachelor airs on Monday, January 11 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, so be sure to tune in to see which of the ladies survives another week of competition.

Warning! Potential spoilers ahead for Matt James' Season 25 of The Bachelor. Please come back once you've gotten all of your roses in order and watched his premiere!

Oooooh, wow! Bachelor Nation, it is finally time for the latest season of The Bachelor to begin, and while we had a much shorter wait than usual to head back to the rose ceremony-loving franchise (Congrats, Tayshia and Zac!), Season 25 with our first black Bachelor, Matt James, already promises to be one filled with drama, tears, laughs, and, hopefully, a lot of lovin'. And, we've already got some potential spoilers on both how Matt's first night will go, and who might get his final rose at the end of his journey.

Things will get off to a big start tonight, and we will see Matt become taken with one of the women enough to hand out his first impression rose. Luckily, Reality Steve thinks that the lady who manages to impress Matt the most on night one will also end up being a true fan favorite, as Abigail Heringer is said to be the one who nabs a rose before anyone else. Looking at Abigail's bio tells us that she has a hearing impairment, so it sounds as though she'll be able to serve as a good role model while not having her entire story be about that one aspect of her life.

Now, Matt has a lot of ladies to choose from, with him starting Season 25 with 32 women. As we know, a huge part of most episodes involves the lead eliminating potential mates as they begin to get to know everyone, and it would seem that Matt got right down to business on the first night, because he's going to send eight women home during his very first rose ceremony.

Steve has warned that spoilers are unlikely to be either plentiful or extremely detailed this season (mostly because of the filming bubble used at the Pennsylvania resort where production took place), so he doesn't know who, exactly, will be sent home during the premiere. But, he does have a list of ladies who have been said to make little or no lasting impact on Matt and Season 25, and the eight who are sent packing tonight will probably be among those listed here:

Well, I'm already sad because I had high hopes that we'd see a lot of some of these ladies, but we will just have to wait and see how things turn out to know if they all really are doomed when it comes to trying to find love with Matt. While Steve believe all of the women listed above will be gone by the third rose ceremony, that still leaves a lot of potentials for Matt to date. If you're already wondering who may have ultimately won Matt's heart on Season 25, though, look no further.

Let's start with the potential Final Four. Apparently, because of the issues with light spoiler details, Reality Steve believes he has solid intel on three of Matt's Final Four, and they are Michelle Young, Rachael Kirkconnell, and Serena Pitt. By the way, if you're having trouble finding info on Michelle, it's because she enters the fray with a second group of only five incoming women after Matt's second rose ceremony. He also noted that these three absolutely get hometown dates, and while he's heard rumblings on who the fourth woman is, he can't confirm that just yet. But, he's been told that Bri Springs is the said fourth hometown date winner.

So, which of these ladies will end up with a Neil Lane sparkler on her hand? Here's where things get even trickier than usual. Reality Steve has been told that Michelle and Rachael will land in the Final Two positions, with Rachael's hometown buzzing about the supposed fact that she walks away with Matt's heart in the finale. The issue is that Steve heard the same with regards to Madi Prewett for Peter Weber's season, and we know what a mess that turned out to have really been. This might be a case where it's an incorrect rumor that's gotten out of control, but, so far, other signs are pointing toward Rachael as the winner.

Again, there are a lot of details which are up in the air still, so we'll all just have to do what we were going to do anyway and tune in to The Bachelor every Monday night at 8 p.m. EST on ABC, to see how Matt's journey to find forever love turns out!

Remember the summer of 2019? While I'm sure there were tons of things to be happy about back then, one item that had quickly become the focus of Bachelor Nation at the time was who among Hannah Brown's discarded suitors from The Bachelorette would become the next lead of The Bachelor. There were many fans who were behind either Mike Johnson or Tyler Cameron for the role, but both ended up losing out to Peter "Windmill Sex" Weber. Now that we're several months past his season, and the announcement of Matt James as Peter's successor and the first black lead of The Bachelor, Mike has offered Matt some amusing Tyler Cameron-oriented advice.

Mike Johnson and Tyler Cameron both made great strides on Hannah's season, with Tyler getting down to the final two and both gaining a massive following after their impressive showings on The Bachelorette. Matt James has, as many know by now, been great friends with Tyler for many years, and now that he's entering his stint as Bachelor, Mike has some advice for him in this undertaking, some of which hinges on his good buddy. Here's what Mike told Entertainment Tonight:

Well, if this isn't good advice for the next Bachelor, I don't know what is! First of all, we know that Mike can treat a woman right, as he never faltered during his interactions with Hannah (or his fellow castmates) in a season which was beset with strife, in-fighting, and her other suitors saying / doing some seriously not cool things. By all accounts (so far), Matt has the same kind of sensibilities as Mike, so he should have no problem responding to all of the women cast on his season with total respect.

Now, as far as Mike's note to Matt about having a better body than Tyler...We'll all be eagerly awaiting the day when we can see what that looks like, because I'm sure that Matt has the motivation in him to make that a reality (if he hasn't already). Matt and Tyler even run a non-profit together in New York City, which spends part of its focus on encouraging physical wellness in the underserved kids of the area, so I doubt that Matt's any slouch when it comes to having his abs and pecs on point.

I am intrigued by Mike bringing up the idea that he believes Matt will be fine if he treats women the way his mom taught him to, mostly because Matt's mom also came up when he and Tyler did an interview shortly after he was announced as the new Bachelor. When asked what type of woman they were looking for to help his friend find his forever love, Tyler responded with "someone that kind of resembles his mother," and noted how sweet, "loving, caring, compassionate" and ready to help others she's always been. So, it seems like all of us could use a clone of Matt's mom in our lives somehow.

It sounds as though Matt James is getting some solid advice from everyone about his time as our next lead, and when you add that to his already impressive life, I think we're going to get a great season from him. The Bachelor is still set to debut at some point in January 2021, so be sure to stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest!

Alright, Bachelor Nation. After many, many unexpected months of waiting for Clare Crawley's season of The Bachelorette to finally begin airing, we are almost at the start date. Obviously, there are surprises aplenty in store for us (cough Tayshia Adams cough), but one thing we don't know about what's to come is just how the show managed to handle COVID-19 testing and the rest of its pandemic prepping. Now, though, we have an answer for you, as host with the most Chris Harrison has confirmed that the show won't ignore the current realities of the world.

As we all wait to see exactly how Clare will find love (and how Tayshia will take over for her own search), one of the biggest factors for Season 16 of The Bachelorette will, of course, be our current health crisis. The show was forced to shut down for months, just like every other production, back in March, but it had to do so on the very day it was set to start filming. As the producers worked on a plan to get things up and running again, one of the necessities was figuring out how to make sure the entire cast and crew were tested and healthy for the duration of filming.

Chris Harrison spoke with E! recently to talk about the new season of The Bachelorette, and revealed that fans will see what the process was like for Clare and her men, when it came time to film in this year's Bachelorette Bubble:

Honestly, this is a pretty solid idea. While everyone who tunes in for Season 16 of The Bachelorette will be looking to escape daily life at least a little bit, if the biggest component of 2020 didn't come up here and there it would seem odd. I'm sure there will be some conversations among Clare, Chris Harrison, and her suitors about this year and the future, so the production might as well show us how they got everyone quarantined and checked out to make sure they were all healthy and ready to possibly swap spit on screen.

Having said that, though, there's already a lot going on this season, so I hope they don't spend too much time showing us testing and the like.

As most fans know by now, there had to be several unexpected changes made so that The Bachelorette could resume operations several weeks ago. Production had to abandon the Bachelor Mansion, and instead opted to buy out a Palm Springs, California resort for filming, so that they could ensure all of the cast and crew would be able to stay virus free for the many weeks of work which were ahead. They also needed to make sure that there were a variety of locations / activities for all of the dates, rose ceremonies and cocktail parties, seeing as how they obviously couldn't travel internationally or even within the U.S. safely.

This strict quarantine process led to a bit of a fan uproar when Chris Harrison, who has hosted roughly 9 million hours of Bachelor Nation content since the franchise began in 2002, was replaced for a few weeks. In mid-August, he left the (apparently very secure and healthy) Bachelorette Bubble to take one of his sons to college in Texas, and when he returned had to quarantine again for several days before he was allowed to roam freely about the resort and resume his hostly duties.

Luckily, filming for the show was able to be completed without any health related hitches, so even though we had a super long wait, we should still get all of the longing glances, smoochy-faces, groping, hot tub dates, drama and shocking reveals that we usually do. In fact, the process worked so well that Harrison even confirmed to Entertainment Tonight that they will be filming Matt James' Season 25 of The Bachelor in the same way, with the cast and crew reportedly filming from the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Pennsylvania. About the new season, Harrison said:

I really like the sound of that! We need at least one of these pandemic seasons to have a makeout session among a lush outdoor location, and I will absolutely die if there's somehow a waterfall under which Matt can kiss one of his ladies. Season 16 of The Bachelorette comes to ABC on a new night, Tuesdays, beginning on October 13 at 8 p.m. EST, while The Bachelor with Matt James is still expected to land on the network sometime in January 2021. For more to watch in the coming weeks, check out our fall TV premiere schedule!

Wow. This has been quite a year, in general, but it's also been quite a year for Bachelor Nation. No one could have predicted, once Peter Weber's crazy season finally wrapped up with a bang in mid-March, just how long we'd all have to wait until we could feast our eyes on the rose-filled ups and downs of Clare Crawley's (probably very short-lived) time as The Bachelorette. So, it makes sense that fans would wonder just when we'll be able to see new Bachelor lead Matt James begin to fulfill his duties. Well, it turns out that fans shouldn't worry too much about more delays, as we should still have Matt on our screens in January 2021.

Along with the delay of Clare's (and, let's be honest, Tayshia Adams') season came the loss of our beloved Bachelor in Paradise sassy beach time for this year, and it has felt like the whole franchise might be out of wack and off schedule for the foreseeable future. But, luckily, filming on The Bachelorette has finally ended, and according to what Rob Mills, ABC's senior vice president of Alternative Series, Specials & Late-Night Programming, told Deadline, the team behind The Bachelor is so confident in the quarantine bubble process which was used to film Clare and Tayshia, that they expect to start on Matt's season by the end of this month.

As many fans probably know by now, September is around the time of year that The Bachelor begins filming anyway, so this means that ABC fully expects to be able to deliver Matt, his dimples, and everything else from his upcoming season in January, just like the past 12 seasons before his. And, in case you're wondering, yes, this is going to be another season set in one location, seeing as how we can't shake this pesky pandemic yet. But, as Mills noted, the process that was implemented for The Bachelorette worked, so there's no reason for things to be seriously delayed for Matt.

According to Reality Steve, the knower of all things Bachelor Nation, Matt's season will film at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Pennsylvania, so I certainly hope that they've found the perfect location for our first black Bachelor to kiss, date and hand out roses to all of his pretty ladies. While I'm glad they were able to completely secure another resort for filming, I do wonder how long it'll be until we get to see the Bachelor Mansion again, and who the next lead will be to travel the globe as they search for true love.

I know I'm not alone in saying that I've been seriously looking forward to Matt's season of The Bachelor ever since he was announced in mid-June. Obviously, the franchise broke with recent protocol in a big way to cast Matt before Clare had even filmed her season, but I'm convinced it was a solid move for several reasons, the first of which was that it was really way past time for them to cast a black Bachelor. So, even though it's clear it was a reaction to what's been going on in the country this summer, at least it gives us the increased diversity we've been hoping for.

Secondly, while Matt had, in fact, originally been cast on Clare's season, he was already way more of a known and well-liked quantity than any of the other men who'd been cast. Many fans had gotten to know Matt through social media, because he's a good friend of Hannah Brown's 2019 Bachelorette runner-up, Tyler Cameron.

While I'm interested to see how the whole Clare / Tayshia drama will play out on The Bachelorette (which debuts on Tuesday, October 13 at 8 p.m. EST), it's really good to know that we can still count on The Bachelor and Matt to help us get the new year off to a, hopefully, fun start. There's no set date for Matt's Season 25 to premiere just yet, so be sure to stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest!

Well, Bachelor Nation, 2020 is half over and it only feels like these six months have lasted for...r oughly 18 years. And, part of that has come from the extended delay we've had between Peter Weber's super messy season of The Bachelor and the beginning of Clare Crawley's time as The Bachelorette. But! Things are looking up, because we seem to be nearing some Bachelor-related normalcy (though probably not with Bachelor in Paradise), meaning that the hot singles train appears to be gassing up (trains do that, right?) to give us more of the crying, confusion, kissing, and here-for-the-wrong-reasons glory we've been waiting for.

As you may have guessed, though, the Bachelor franchise is a wee bit out of wack right now, much like a lot of the things we use to entertain ourselves. So, you've probably been asking yourself when the new seasons will film, where these seasons will happen and more, and, luckily, we're here to answer as many of these questions as we can. Let's get to it!

The Bachelorette - 2020 - Clare Crawley

Man, it's been a long road to get here, right? Well, after being officially announced at the beginning of March, we should have seen Clare begin filming on her season in mid-May. Obviously, that could not be done, and while the producers originally thought that they'd simply have to forgo using any foreign locations, taping had to shut down along with pretty much every other show. But, things are starting to move along, and spoilers from Reality Steve are saying that her season is actually close to filming.

Here's the plan, as mentioned before, the producers are sticking with filming in one location to try and keep everyone in the cast and crew as safe as possible. According to spoilers, everyone is currently set to arrive in Palm Springs, CA around July 9. Everyone will be quarantined for a week to make sure they're all healthy, then filming will begin somewhere around July 17. It looks like their location for the entire shoot will be the Ritz Carlton Rancho Mirage, with the season being done with filming by August 27. Even if this isn't the resort, with no traveling allowed once they're at the location, rest assured that it's been scouted so as to have the best date locations on the property as possible. We might not get to see any waterfalls, but at least everyone will stay healthy.

Aside from having everyone hang in one location for the duration of filming, there are other changes afoot. For one, as Chris Harrison confirmed a while back, they've had to recast some of Clare's suitors (which is just fine by me). We don't know how many of the original cast has had to be replaced, but, apparently, many of these new men skew older than the ones in the first crop, which sounds like a solid choice. A lot of the men who were first announced seemed way too young for what Clare was looking for, so here's hoping that the new crop is a bit less right-out-of-college than the other guys were.

Now, my only question about them is whether or not we'll get all of the kissy-face-lovey-dovey touch time that we usually do. The show might do all the appropriate quarantining, social distancing and health testing they can, but will the participants be as cool as usual with getting so up close and personal right away? I certainly can't wait to find out! Info on the new dudes should come out mid-July, before filming commences.

OK, here's the other big change that really might hit you right in your Bachelor Nation loving souls. You know how all the Bachelor shows air at the same time on Monday nights? Well, not this time! Clare's season is scheduled to air in the fall now, and you might remember what's been on Monday nights in the fall. That's right, Dancing with the Stars is keeping its Monday spot, while The Bachelorette will air on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EST.

The Bachelor - 2021 - Matt James

As we all know by now, Matt James, who had been scheduled to romance Clare as one of her many suitors during her season, was called up to be our next Bachelor. Unfortunately, it took nationwide protests, a major petition to diversify the show behind the scenes and on camera, and former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay announcing that she'll stop her involvement with the franchise if they didn't cast a black Bachelor for the show to make this move, but now that it's (finally) done, how is Matt's season going to work?

Let's start with a little background info on Matt, first, because, if you've been paying attention to the franchise for the past year, you have probably seen him before. While Matt has never been on one of the franchise shows (and will not be on Clare's season anymore), fans who like to follow their Bachelor Nation favorites on social media will know that Matt is the best friend (and roommate...and business partner) of Tyler Cameron, who made serious waves on Hannah Brown's Bachelorette season in 2019.

I don't doubt that Matt was, likely, intrigued by the prospect of joining the franchise after watching Tyler's profile increase in the past year, which would help the 28-year-old North Carolina native in his business pursuits, which include being an entrepreneur, real estate broker, and community organization founder. Matt will be looking for his first ever love on The Bachelor, and while there are plenty of unknowns still about his season, we do have some idea of what will be in store for us when we tune in.

First of all, things are still on track for The Bachelor to start filming by late September, when it generally starts taping episodes, anyway. Now, here's the tricky part: we don't have any idea what Matt's season will look like yet, because no one knows if worldwide health conditions will be safer by then, or not.

ABC's Vice President of Alternative Programming, Rob Mills, spoke to On Air with Ryan Seacrest just a few days after Matt was announced as Bachelor to talk about how they were going to film seasons in the coming months, and the key with his season is going to be flexibility. Because no one knows what the world is going to look like come late September, they're open to filming The Bachelor at that infamous mansion, and possibly having some travel (maybe even by bus!). But, if things aren't that safe yet, everyone is on board with filming in the same manner as Clare's season. None of those potential details have been ironed out, though.

On the upside, Mills also confirmed that competition to get on Mike... I MEAN, Matt's season of The Bachelor is already at a fever pitch. In the five days between Matt being confirmed and Mills appearing on Seacrest's show, they had 6,500 new applicants who'd like to try and win Matt's heart, which is a record in that time span. Let's hope they pick some good ones. And, by "good" I mean at least 60% crazy troublemaker, because that's what this franchise is all about! As is usually the case, photos and bios for these ladies will probably be released a few weeks before Matt begins to tape his season.

Bachelor In Paradise - 2021

That's right, Bachelor Nation. I hate to ruin this little bit of potential summer joy for you, but there is pretty much no hope for Bachelor in Paradise to air in 2020. As we know, things are already seriously backed up, with Clare's Bachelorette not even filming until probably mid-July, and airing this fall. On top of that, Matt's Bachelor season will (hopefully) be in full swing this fall, and in addition we don't even know if it will be safe for our sexy singles to head to a Mexican beach to kiss (eeewwww) and cry their hearts out in the coming weeks.

Because of the filming delay with Clare's season, we obviously wouldn't have a fresh of a crop of rejects... I MEAN, lucky singletons (I keep doing that, don't I?) to populate the show. So, while there hasn't been any clear confirmation on this, it would seem that we'll have to wait until the end of next summer (all things being better than they currently are) to see if anyone who didn't find love with Matt or Clare will be able to give it another shot while sweating through their shorts in a tropical locale.

That's everything we know about the upcoming seasons of The Bachelorette, The Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise. Right now, we don't have any word on whether or not other franchise entries like The Bachelor: Listen to Your Heart or The Bachelor: The Most Unforgettable – Ever! (not to mention that planned show focusing on senior citizens) will also be on tap for us in 2021. So, be sure you stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest, and answer our Bachelor Nation poll, below!

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Spoilers ahead for the June 29 episode of The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons Ever on ABC.

Although the latest episode of The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons Ever was technically about JoJo Fletcher and her Bachelorette Season 12 search for love, the highlight of the three-hour broadcast may have been the appearance of new Bachelor leading man Matt James and his best bud (and Bachelorette alum) Tyler Cameron for a video chat with Chris Harrison. In the process, Harrison asked Tyler what kind of woman they're looking for to win Matt's heart, and Tyler shared.

That is, Tyler shared as soon as he and Matt stopped cracking up at Chris Harrison dropping the question. Despite the laughs, Tyler gave a very sincere answer that had Matt nodding along. So, ladies who are looking to capture Matt's heart when he takes the spotlight on The Bachelor, take note of Tyler's explanation of the ideal woman for his buddy:

Let me just say: whatever happens with Matt's search for love on The Bachelor, I'm glad he has a best bro like Tyler in his corner. Although Matt himself didn't comment on what qualities he's holding out for in the women who appear on his season of The Bachelor, he nodded along with everything Tyler had to say, and looked genuinely touched when Tyler confidently stated that Matt is "gonna change the world."

Matt is already changing Bachelor Nation, as the announcement that he would be the next man distributing roses meant that he would be the first black lead of The Bachelor in the show's history. He was also a somewhat surprising pick, since Bachelors are usually pulled from the previous season of The Bachelorette to get another shot at love.

That said, Matt was already tied to Bachelor Nation thanks to his connection with Tyler, and The Bachelor could really benefit from a leading man who is a romantic blank slate rather than somebody who has been jilted by a Bachelorette. Matt seems to be all-in on the Bachelor process so far, and he shared that "the grandkid counter" for his mom started with the announcement that he was going to be the next Bachelor, then joked that she wants "a basketball team" of grandkids, or as many as can fit into a minivan.

Honestly, after their brief appearance on The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons Ever, I'm already wondering if Chris Harrison will try to seize every opportunity to reunite Matt and Tyler during Matt's time on The Bachelor. They made for a fun duo, and Tyler is popular enough with the ABC crowd despite not winning Hannah Brown's heart that he landed a role on Single Parents. Still, as much as I enjoyed Matt and Tyler hanging out and bouncing off of each other, I think the next season of The Bachelor needs to keep the spotlight on Matt. Tyler can drop by, but this is Matt's journey.

Matt's journey on The Bachelor won't start for a while, however. Clare Crawley's season of The Bachelorette has only just been able to start production, and the future is very uncertain as to when Bachelor Nation can return with a new season of The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, or Bachelor in Paradise. For now, you can catch new episodes of the recap show The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons Ever on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. For more viewing options, check out our 2020 summer TV premiere schedule!

Well, the long-overdue time has finally come, Bachelor Nation. After 18 years and 40 combined seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, former lead Rachel Lindsay is no longer our only person of color to lead their own season. Matt James, a 28-year-old community organization founder, entrepreneur, and real estate broker is now the new Bachelor for Season 25, which should still be coming our way in 2021.

As we all know, this monumental casting did not come about during the easiest of times for the franchise. And, many of us in Bachelor Nation are quite glad that Matt is getting to shoot his shot at first-time love in front of millions every Monday night. But, I, for one, really want to make sure that the producers don't bungle this season to the point where even those of us who've been wanting to see a man of melanin in this position for many moons have a hard time sticking with his...journey. So, here for you now, I have a list of things I really need to see from Matt's season of The Bachelor (aside from an official photo of him in a nice suit, like most of the other Bachelors).

Make Sure The Women Cast For Matt James' Season Are As Diverse As Possible

I can give The Bachelor a teensy bit of props for upping the number of non-white women cast in most of the recent seasons, such as Peter Weber's recent (and still basically infuriating, nonetheless) season, which you can see above. So, there hasn't really been any doubt that Matt's time as Bachelor would see a diverse cast. But there's also no better time like the present to really pump those numbers up.

This is especially true since Matt has already gone public (during his Good Morning America introduction to the world) and said that he's looking for a woman who's "selfless, honest, caring, compassionate" and noted that women like that come in all "shapes, sizes and races," so the show had better present us with as many of those shapes, sizes and races as possible. (I would so, so, SO, love it if there were a few women who were larger than a size four on Season 25, but I'm not gonna hold my breath.)

The Bachelor Cannot Be Self-Congratulatory In Matt James' Season

Will this be a historic season of The Bachelor? Of course it will be. Though, I honestly will not be able to bear it if the show acts like the franchise did something special here. This is only happening now because their hands were forced by the fans starting a petition, and a Twitter account to report on changes made in the franchise. Not to mention Rachel's decision to take a stand and say she wouldn't be involved with Bachelor Nation anymore if they didn't finally cast a black lead. And, if they didn't have Rachel, we all know they had no one else to turn to as a sort of official representative, so they bowed to the pressure.

I don't want the show talking about how important it is that Matt is The Bachelor, because the producers, clearly, didn't really think this step was important at all. And, now that I think about it, I don't really remember The Bachelorette doing any over-celebrating during Rachel's season, so let's just follow that playbook where this particular thing is concerned, alright? This needs to be a pretty regular season, aside from the lead and the diversity of the cast, which leads me to my next point...

Make Sure That Season 25 Is Fun As Hell

Tell the truth. Don't you think that The Bachelor has gotten stale in a lot of different ways? Anything that's been on the air for as many seasons as this show has would. After the near total fiascos of Peter and Colton Underwood, I think it's time to really switch this whole bitch up and make sure what we see is as intriguing, surprising, exciting and just plain fun as all hell!

They can do all the aerial shots of the lush locations (assuming we get those in Matt's season) that they want, but I do not want to see a single helicopter date on Season 25. Hell, I'd be fine if we don't see another helicopter until Season 972, but that might just be me. I hope the women are a bit older than usual, but let's not pretend that can't mean that there will be some weirdos in the bunch who will start shit, cry a lot or do oddball stuff that they'll have to answer for later. In short, they need to bring us the drama so that Matt's time as Bachelor is as enticing to watch as before.

Focus On Matt James In His Season

I know this may seem like an odd request and you might be saying to yourself, "Why, whomever would they focus on in Matt's season besides Matt?" Well, you're looking at a picture of him, right above this section: Tyler Cameron. Ever since Tyler became a breakout star on Hannah Brown's season of The Bachelorette, his best buddy (and business partner...and roommate) Matt has also been on our collective radar. And, while it's great that these two seem to have a very genuine bromance going on, it cannot be exploited for Matt's time as Bachelor.

Why? Well, because it wouldn't be fair or appropriate, that's why. This is Matt's time to shine, so if the show leans too heavily on the Tyler of it all, it would just remind folks how much we love him and how he wasn't The Bachelor instead of Peter (in my mind it was between Mike and Tyler, but, oh well...). Then we're thinking about whether or not he be could be the lead in 2022, and suddenly we're not thinking about our dude Matt anymore at all. I'm not saying we can't hear from Tyler at all, but once should be the limit, and preferably toward the end of the season.

Don't Try To Drive Home The Fact That Matt James Is Black

This is really where having additional people of color working behind the scenes will help. You might remember how, during Peter's season, they traveled to some Spanish-speaking countries and made sure to include several scenes where he spoke that lovely language. I suppose this was in an effort to show off the fact that Peter is part Cuban (on Barb's side, I believe), but the results were pretty cringe-worthy, because it was abundantly clear that Peter did not grow up speaking any significant amount of Spanish. Honestly, he sounded like he had just learned every phrase he used.

We don't want this happening with Matt James, do we? The producers are going to have to be able to balance the things they usually do with opening the doors to other cultures on the show and making sure that the leads (especially) are doing things that feature their interests. Just because Matt is black doesn't mean that The Bachelor needs to go film in Africa for eight weeks. But, the flip side of that is that his season should showcase aspects of his life connected to his heritage that Matt is already interested in. If the man doesn't like gumbo, don't send him on a date to a gumbo factory. Yeah, I know there aren't any gumbo factories, but I also know that you know exactly what I mean.

Really, if the producers take the time to think about this, they should realize that Matt James' time as The Bachelor should, as all seasons prior, be about him and what he needs to find love, not simply his race. We still want to see kissing, confrontations, confusion and goofy moments. Fans will still need sweeping shots of mountains and waterfalls, and crazy dates that real people would never go on in regular life. Someone (Maybe even Matt!) should absolutely end an episode wallowing in a puddle of their own tears. As long as they can deliver on this, Matt's season should be golden.

Friday saw what will, hopefully, be the dawning of a new era when it comes to The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and all things Bachelor Nation. After the franchise got some strong criticism last week from former leads and contestants, like Rachel Lindsay, and fans who mobilized to start a petition to see diversity among the leads who get cast, Matt James, who was scheduled to be a suitor for Clare Crawley's upcoming season, is cast as lead for The Bachelor Season 25, which is slated to air in 2021. Now the producers have made a statement, and committed to address diversity issues going forward.

As we all know, the past few weeks have seen numerous protests over the murders of black citizens at the hands of police officers, and those protests have, in turn, led to a lot of larger conversations about racism and inequality in our society. More and more people are starting to understand that it's important to face, address and make serious efforts to change that inequality, wherever it is, even if it seems, at first, like the societal area where that inequality exists is unimportant. And, with 40 seasons across 18 years, and only one black lead under its belt, The Bachelor franchise is one of those areas.

In a statement which was posted to Chris Harrison's Twitter feed, the executive producers of The Bachelor let it be known that they are now interested in making the kind of changes that they should have been trying to make for years. Here's what they had to say:

When I heard that Matt James was cast as the next Bachelor last Friday I was not excited. It looked like inroads had been made when Rachel Lindsay was declared the Bachelorette in 2017, but fans will know that every season since then has still had a white lead. This was even true of this year's Bachelor, Peter Weber, when there was very strong fan support for Mike Johnson to get the lead in 2020, after his time as a suitor on Hannah Brown's Bachelorette season in 2019.

After Rachel's season, it seemed clear that the producers weren't interested in changing the way they did things, so many fans of color kept watching, likely out of habit, without any real hope that things would change. So, getting Matt as Bachelor in 2021 just felt as though they were throwing us another bone, without putting real effort into creating an environment that would lead to significant and lasting changes. Now, that the executive producers have put out this statement, though, I feel I can proceed with the franchise with more cautious optimism than before.

As with many television shows, part of the issue with casting isn't just in who tries to get on the show, but in who works behind the scenes. If you have a dozen producers / people helping to cast The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, but only two of those folks are people of color, the chances that there will be fairer representation on camera are going to be pretty low.

The same applies when it comes to the desire to see things change. If basically everyone is cool with the status quo, change won't happen. This statement makes it clear that those behind the show take responsibility for letting the franchise linger for 18 years with only one person of color in the lead, and they're vowing to make the kind of changes behind the scenes (which was one of the things the petition called for) that should keep us from looking back on the franchise in another 18 years and going, "Wait, have the only non-white leads been Rachel and Matt? How the fuck did this happen again?!"

So, with cautious optimism is how I will watch The Bachelor and The Bachelorette in 2021. I need to see what happens beyond those seasons to tell if these folks are really, truly serious about their desire "to reflect the world around us and show all of its beautiful love stories." There's no reason why one season per year can't cast a lead of color. We need to see folks with Mexican, Chinese, Indian, Native American, Filipino, Caribbean and the wide variety of other cultures / ancestries who reside in this country as leads, and now that the producers seem to be on board, that shouldn't be an issue going forward.

The Bachelor: The Most Unforgettable – Ever! is airing right now on ABC, Mondays at 8 p.m. EST. For more to watch, check out our 2020 Netflix guide and see what's coming to TV this summer.

It's no secret by now that A LOT of Bachelor Nation folks have come out to really take a stand against racism in the franchise. We've had 40 combined seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette by this point, across 18 years, and Rachel Lindsay is the only black person to act as lead, with her season coming so far into the run as to have just been in 2017. She spoke out earlier this week, saying she could no longer represent the franchise if they didn't make serious changes, including casting a black lead for The Bachelor, and fans followed suit by signing a petition to see change happen.

Well, producers of The Bachelor took notice (finally) and have now announced a black lead for the series in Season 25. Ladies and gentlemen of Bachelor Nation, meet Matt James, The Bachelor 2021:

Alright, I know you're all wondering how this came about so quickly, and who this lovely (He seems tall. Do you see those dimples?) individual is, so here's what happened. Let's start with the details we know about Matt. The North Carolina native is a 28-year-old entrepreneur, real estate broker, and community organization founder who is actually setting about his Bachelor journey to try and find love for the first time. Here's the rest of his official bio:

It should also be noted that Matt is Tyler Cameron's best friend, and the two run a charity together in New York, so it's not like Matt is totally new to this crazy Bachelor world, as he's been by Tyler's side through all of his ups and downs since he appeared on Hannah Brown's season of The Bachelorette in 2019. Still, it needs to be said: See, Bachelor producers? See how easy it was to find an amazing black dude to carry your franchise? This should have happened over a decade ago, but it's happening now, so don't blow this chance at redemption, alright?

After Rachel said she was embarrassed to still be repping all things Bachelor when they hadn't bothered to cast a black lead besides her, not to mention the racism that is prevalent in general within Bachelor Nation which has been allowed (and, some would say covertly encouraged), fans started the Bachelor Diversity Campaign on Twitter. Along with that came a petition, which over 85,000 people have signed as of this writing.

I can only imagine that the producers and ABC saw that the writing was on the wall, and realized that they had to act, and act fast. As you will likely notice, if you've been watching The Bachelorette for a few seasons, Matt has not been seen on screen in the franchise before, despite his friendship with Tyler. Well, he had been cast as a suitor for Clare Crawley's upcoming Season 16 of the show, which has been on hold since March.

There was a bit of controversy at the end of April, when Clare (who was seemingly doing research on her potential suitors) appeared to shade Matt on Twitter with this post:

Fans assumed she was talking about Matt, because he's one of only two of her proposed suitors to have such a strong media presence prior to her season. But, many of them came for her, pointing out that Matt was doing those interviews and Cameo videos to grow his charity. That led to a lot of fans saying they wouldn't be watching her season of The Bachelorette, and also calling for Matt to be Bachelor. A little over a month later, and those fans' dreams have come true. Wanna see Matt in action? Here ya go:

Holy...Is Matt actually rocking that salmon jacket of Tyler's that made the rounds to the torso of almost every dude on Hannah's season? You know, never mind, I'm just going to concentrate on the positives here...

While Matt seems like a perfect choice to lead The Bachelor, and I'm truly glad that the franchise has come around, I do not want this to be the end of things. We can't, in another 40 seasons, be looking back at Matt James and Rachel Lindsay and realizing that there haven't been any other leads of color since them (I still feel bad for Mike Johnson). Luckily, ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke sounds committed to doing the right thing going forward:

Time will tell, won't it? Matt James and his season of The Bachelor should air in 2021. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more details as we near Season 25!