ABC Head Honcho Explains Early ‘Bachelor’ Announcement
ABC shocked fans by announcing Grant Ellis as the next Bachelor on Monday, August 12. The unexpected announcement came while Jenn Tran’s season is still airing. A head honcho with the network revealed why they chose to announce so early.
Grant Ellis Is The Next Bachelor
During the May network upfronts, ABC confirmed that the popular dating show The Bachelor would return in 2025 for Season 29. Fans of the franchise have been throwing old and new names out as the next possible lead. But the network put an end to that by announcing the name of the next Bachelor.
Immediately following Episode 6 of The Bachelorette, ABC made the official announcement on social media. Grant Ellis was among the suitors eliminated by Jenn Tran in the episode.
The 30-year-old day trader from Houston, Texas, will get another chance at finding his wife on Season 29 of The Bachelor. The new season is expected to start in January. Jenn Tran’s season of The Bachelorette only has a few episodes left.
Why ABC Announced It Early
Bachelor Nation fans were definitely taken by surprise with the announcement. Joey Graziadei wasn’t officially announced as the Season 28 Bachelor until after Charity Lawson’s season was over.
But according to a higher-up with the network, they had good reason for announcing early. ABC executive Robert Mills took to Twitter to reveal the reasons.
He said the early announcement gives people more time to apply to be a contestant on Grant’s season.
That makes sense, especially after Sam McKinney told Jenn Tran that he thought it was applying for a season with Maria Georgas or Daisy Kent, both of who claim they were offered the Bachelorette role before Jenn.
Fans React To Reasoning
Bachelor Nation fans took to Reddit to discuss the shocking announcement. Many actually agreed with Rob Mills’ reasoning. There have been many complaints from viewers this season about the lack of quality suitors for Jenn Tran. Check out some of the Reddit comments:
- I feel like they are aware of the backlash around Jenn’s cast not having many Asian men and we might get a majority WOC cast for Grant’s season like Matt had.
- Casting truly failed Jenn. They should have had guys who applied for her.
- I like this!! Hopefully he gets a cast who are all really into him. I think it’s so weird this show just casts randos and expects it to work.
- This makes sense to announce and cast it early. I am pleased that they chose him and hope they have pulled it together to give him a good season and don’t fail him the way they did with Matt James.
- Good. Hopefully they can choose a diverse cast of women who are serious about the lead. They have a few weeks so I’m expecting a lot of women of color.
- They know that they messed up casting for Jen’s season. Hopefully they learned their lesson
- This def tracks because this cast, who was put together with either a different lead or no particular lead in mind, ended up being one of the worst groups in a LONG time.
What do you think about the decision to announce the next Bachelor while Jenn Tran’s season is still airing? Sound off in the comments.
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