America was introduced to Zach Shallcross on The Bachelorette Season 19, as one of Rachel Recchia’s suitors on her dual season alongside Gabby Windey. He made it to the final three, before a baffling post-Fantasy Suite self-elimination that set him up for his own journey to find love as The Bachelor’s newest lead. Shallcross spoke to CinemaBlend ahead of the Season 27 premiere and admitted to having some nerves about taking on that role, but It doesn’t hurt that he had some help from one of the franchise’s most successful leads in Sean Lowe, who the new Bachelor said gave him the “best advice ever.”
As enticing as it may sound to have dozens of people vying for your affection, the road to love hasn’t been the easiest over the ABC dating shows’ past couple of seasons. Rachel Recchia threatened to quit The Bachelorette several times, Gabby Windey’s finalists didn’t want to get engaged, and Clayton Echard said he regretted going on the show after the infamous “Rose Ceremony From Hell.” Zach Shallcross admitted to CinemaBlend’s Nick Venable that seeing how things went down with Echard caused some nerves about his own decision to become The Bachelor, saying:
Looking back on Clayton’s season and how everything had transpired, definitely I was nervous, like, going into this. Things were handled very uniquely — I can put that lightly — in his season. So for me, I went about it as, like, I am not going to have any specific rules for myself or no playbook. It's just, I'm going to take it day by day, just being the person I am and hoping I navigate it the right way. That's how it was. But yeah, there were the fears of, like, what the worst-case scenario could be. But, you know, I didn't let that bother me, by any means.
Although it sounds like Zach Shallcross was aware of the drama that has befallen those who came before him, he was determined to be himself in order to take advantage of the opportunity presented to him. That was something he said he talked about with Season 17 lead Sean Lowe, who is married to and has three children with Catherine Giudici, the woman he proposed to at the end of his season, which filmed in 2012.
The Season 27 Bachelor told CinemaBlend that Sean Lowe’s advice included not doing anything out of character — something to strive for whether or not you’ve got a camera crew following you. In Zach Shallcross’ words:
What he always helped me with in advice or support was just keeping a level head through it all, as much as you can. But, you know, regardless of the fact if it's a TV show, or you're being filmed, just be the Zach that you know you are and you're comfortable with, always. Don't do anything that's out of character for you, and just as cliché as it is, be true to yourself. So he also says don't take yourself too seriously. And I mean, that's some of the best advice ever.
To that end, Zach Shallcross said we’re all about to see that “I don’t take much serious.” I, for one, am excited to watch his strategy play out, when The Bachelor Season 27 premieres at 8 p.m. ET Monday, January 23, on ABC. Be sure to check out our 2023 TV schedule to see what other premieres are headed our way soon.
