Gearing up to find love! Although filming just began for season 16 of The Bachelorette, ABC will be working overtime to get Matt James‘ season of The Bachelor ready to go as well. A source confirms to Us Weekly exclusively that the network is hoping to begin filming season 25 of The Bachelor in late September.
This means that if all goes as planned, The Bachelor will be ready to debut in January, putting everything back on track. Usually — before the coronavirus pandemic — The Bachelorette would begin filming March and debut in May, followed by Bachelor in Paradise, then The Bachelor.
Peter Weber’s season of The Bachelor began filming on September 20, which would mean that if there isn’t an uptick of COVID-19 cases where the show plans to film and things go as plan, the schedule will reset.
James, 28, was first cast as one of the suitors on Clare Crawley‘s season of The Bachelorette. Last month, however, it was announced that he will be the season 25 lead, becoming the franchise’s first Black Bachelor. However, he will be watching the hairstylist’s season!
“I’ve heard from a lot of my Black friends that aren’t Bachelor Nation faithful that are excited about me and honored that I’m in the position I’m in and have this opportunity to just represent what it’s going to look like to have diverse relationships and tell those love stories,” the real estate broker shared during the June 29 episode of The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons — Ever. “I couldn’t be more excited about that.”
The network also vowed to make more changes in front of and behind the camera moving forward.
“We are excited to move forward with both Matt James as the new Bachelor and Clare Crawley as our next Bachelorette,” the executive producers said in a statement on June 12. “We acknowledge our responsibility for the lack of representation of people of color on our franchise and pledge to make significant changes to address this issue moving forward. We are taking positive steps to expand diversity in our cast, in our staff, and most importantly, in the relationships that we show on television. We can and will do better to reflect the world around us and show all of its beautiful love stories.”
Crawley’s season of The Bachelorette will debut on ABC Tuesdays this fall.