ABC Sets Bachelor Best-of Series as Bachelorette Production Delay Continues
ABC is making sure Bachelor Nation stays entertained, even during the coronavirus outbreak.
After the pandemic halted production on its upcoming season of The Bachelorette, the network pivoted — creating a new 10-episode "best of" series looking back at "some of the most dramatic moments ever" in the franchise's 18-year history.
The Bachelor: The Most Unforgettable — Ever! will premiere on June 8 (at 8 p.m. EST).
Each three-hour-long episode, according to an ABC release on Wednesday, will see host Chris Harrison hanging at The Bachelor mansion and reaching into the vault to "bring back one of his favorite seasons, highlighting some of the most devastating rose ceremonies, passionate proposals, unexpected new arrivals, dramatic meltdowns, biggest breakups, and, of course, the most romantic moments."
"The weekly retrospectives will also include virtual catch-ups with fan-favorite Bachelor alumni, checking on the latest in their lives after their final rose," ABC said.
Karey Burke, president of ABC Entertainment, said the show is "a love letter to our fans who have been with us through some of the most heartwarming, heartbreaking and unexpected moments throughout Bachelor history."
"We can’t wait for Bachelor Nation to fall in love all over again as we take this wild journey down memory lane," Burke boasted.
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John Fleenor via Getty Chris Harrison and upcoming star of The Bachelorette, Clare Crawley
The new season of The Bachelorette was originally expected to premiere on May 18. Clare Crawley, who had previously competed for Bachelor Juan Pablo's heart, was set to star.
Speaking to PEOPLE last month, Harrison, 48, acknowledged that "like everybody," Crawley is "frustrated."
"She's safe and she's doing what she's supposed to do, but that means she's sequestered at home and she lives by herself. Bad timing for Clare," he said. "It would have been great right after. She could have been quarantined with the man of her dreams, but now she just has to sit and think about being the Bachelorette."
Crawley will still get that opportunity, according to Rob Mills — ABC's senior vice president of alternative programming — who said on Wednesday in an interview with Variety that Crawley's season "is happening one hundred percent," and that the only question is exactly when they will be able to safely begin shooting.
The timeline is still very much uncertain and all plans are subject to change, given the rapidly-shifting information concerning the virus.
"If I'm being realistic, it would probably be mid-summer that we start," Mills said, adding that the season would then likely be ready to air this fall.
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Chris Harrison Says Bachelorette Is Still Casting Because Circumstances Might Change After Quarantine
Chris Harrison thinks that some men might be taken, looking for jobs or may not be healthy: "the world is going to change"
Meanwhile, production on Bachelor in Paradise — which shoots in Mexico and typically premieres on ABC in August — is also being affected.
At this point, a new season of the spinoff seems unlikely this year, given that the network's top priorities are The Bachelorette and The Bachelor. That said, according to Variety, ABC would be open to airing the show during a different timeframe in the year if they are able to produce a new season.
"We're certainly discussing it and how it could work and if it could work, but we want to make sure that the next season of The Bachelor stays on track because that's something that everybody looks forward to at the beginning of the year," Mills said. "The goal is to make sure we absolutely have Bachelorette and Bachelor, and then, if there's a way to do Bachelor in Paradise, we would love to do it."
"It does seem extremely unlikely, as far as going to Mexico," Harrison added.
Per Variety, ABC has also put a pin in the previously announced Bachelor Summer Games (supposed to correspond with 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which have been postponed a year) and a new spinoff focused on finding love for senior citizens.
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