We’re just weeks away from The Bachelorette Season 22 premiere on the 2026 TV schedule, and for the first time in the show’s history, the lead is not a contestant from a previous season of The Bachelor, but rather a celebrity from a whole different reality show. I’m looking forward to watching Taylor Frankie Paul from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives work her way through two dozen men, and I really love what her casting might mean for the rest of the dating franchise.
Rumors have started to circulate that other Bachelor Nation series might follow The Bachelorette’s lead by recruiting young singles who are already famous from other reality TV shows. For instance, there’s been some buzz that Robert Irwin, the most recent Dancing with the Stars champion, could lead The Bachelor, and a certain Housewife's hat has been thrown in the ring for The Golden Bachelorette. Let’s break down what each celebrity has said and why this would be great for Bachelor Nation.
I’m Expecting Taylor Frankie Paul To Breathe New Life Into The Bachelorette
I have to admit — I didn’t watch The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives before Taylor Frankie Paul was announced as the new Bachelorette. However, hearing the buzz and knowing that I was definitely going to be tuning in, I decided to embark on an intense binge of all three seasons (Season 4 premieres March 12 with a Hulu subscription).
That’s got to be one of the main benefits of stunt casting — Bachelor Nation fans who never watched SLOMW will want to get caught up before The Bachelorette, and people who already love the MomTok leader are going to tune in to see her journey on ABC, regardless of if they’ve been fans of the dating show in the past.
Paul’s established fame — and the fact that we’ve seen her go through so much with ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen — is going to bring an energy to The Bachelorette we haven’t seen before. So, will The Bachelor follow suit?
Robert Irwin Responds To Rumors About The Bachelor
Wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin’s love life got the attention of viewers when he was competing on Dancing with the Stars Season 34, and dating rumors started circulating after he and Season 32 winner Xochitl Gomez were paired for a dance. Gomez later confirmed she was still single, but that didn't stop fans from wanting to see Irwin find love. Rumors began to circulate that the 22-year-old could lead the next season of The Bachelor.
When asked by ET whether he might return to reality TV, Robert Irwin said, “Never say never,” which led to the obvious follow-up regarding whether he’d be interested in being The Bachelor. Irwin teased:
You know what? Watch this space. Who knows? It’s a strange world. Anything can happen.
I’m encouraged by this response, and the powers that be at ABC should be trying to lock down this wholesome animal lover, like, yesterday. He’s charming, he’s hot, he’s got an accent — literally, what more do you want?
Is Countess Luann In The Running For The Golden Bachelorette?
Luann de Lesseps, an OG from The Real Housewives of New York, has apparently been on people’s minds to lead The Golden Bachelorette for a while. After Joan Vassos was cast for Season 1, in fact, Andy Cohen voiced his displeasure with the decision, saying Countess Luann would have been “amazing.”
The Bravo host might just be in luck, because back in December, Vassos made it sound like ABC might still have the Countess’ number. Given that the franchise was going in a different direction with Paul on The Bachelorette, Vassos told US Weekly:
I think maybe they’ll do something different with Golden. Like some of the older women that were rumored to have gotten it instead of me. And then I hear a rumor about a different one right now that could possibly be, you’ve probably heard it — Luann? The Countess, yeah.
Is The Golden Bachelorette something that Luann de Lesseps would be interested in? US Weekly asked her, and the RHONY alum didn’t hesitate, saying:
Hell, yeah, I’d love to; that would be great. Throw those boys at me, I’m ready!
You heard her!
The Real Housewives franchise falls outside of my reality TV expertise, unfortunately, but I’ve loved getting to know several of them on The Traitors, and just like I binge-watched The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives for Paul, if de Lesseps were going to be The Golden Bachelorette, I’d definitely have to do my homework in that department, as well.
Continuing To Stunt-Cast On The Bachelor Would Only Benefit The Franchise
That goes back to what I said earlier about bringing in new fans from other reality TV shows. We’ve already seen how well this type of cross-promotion works on series like The Traitors. I typically don’t know who half of The Traitors cast members are at the beginning of a season, but that doesn’t affect how much I enjoy the game at all. In fact, I end up seeking out their most iconic reality TV moments, like Dan Gheesling staging his own funeral on Big Brother.
Bachelor Nation alumni have appeared — and largely been successful — on several other reality shows like Dancing with the Stars, The Traitors, Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, Perfect Match and more. With Paul starring on The Bachelorette, it feels like the franchise might start playing by those rules and winning over new audiences by casting people we already know from other shows.
The partnership between The Bachelorette and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives makes a lot of sense, given their Disney connections, and hopefully TFP’s season will be successful enough to encourage ABC to continue down that path. Robert Irwin and Luann de Lesseps are definitely good options to start, and I’d be thrilled if those rumors ended up being true.
For now, though, I know where I’ll be when the guys start exiting the limos to show Taylor Frankie Paul their best TikTok dance moves — tune into The Bachelorette Season 22, kicking off at 8 p.m. ET, Sunday, March 22, on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu.
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