After The Bachelor and The Bachelorette comes Bachelor in Paradise—wait, what's that you say? We're getting ANOTHER franchise show this year? And no, it's not that weird singing show, but instead a summer version of their iconic mess that was Winter Games? Sign me up, please! Coinciding with the actual Olympics (more on that below), Bachelor Summer Games is in the early stages of development, but it'll come up quickly after The Bachelorette. The full cast hasn't been released yet, but there's more comin', so strap on those sneakers and come along with me.
Bachelor Summer Games will air alongside the Olympics.
So the real Olympics will take place starting July 26 in Tokyo. According to ABC's senior VP of alternative programming Rob Mills, the show will air roughly the same time, before Bachelor in Paradise. That show, if you'll remember, usually debuts early- to mid-August, and The Bachelorette often finishes in late July.
[Summer Games] will be its own thing and it’ll run—it’ll be Bachelorette, then Summer Games,” Mills said. “What’s nice about Summer Games, is when we did Winter Games, Bachelor was still airing, so it was a lot…This is Summer Games, and then Paradise will start."
It'll probably film earlier than that, of course, so there's a good chance we'll know some spoilers going into it.
Mills also confirmed that this will be a genuine sporty thing: think track and swimming. Like, they are not messing around, so the contestants had better be sporty, is my point. Mills says they found a great place to have it, but TBD on the specific details. For your viewing pleasure, here is a look back at the Winter Games trailer, and all the "sportiness" that ensued:
Hi Dean!!
The cast isn't confirmed, but producers have a wishlist.
What would be amazing about this is that alums from international Bachelor shows could be potential contestants—fan faves that might not be as well-known in the U.S. but have a huge following in other countries. Mills also said his wishlist of potential contestants included some big names. "There’s certain people that you’d love to see, I mean, I’d love to see Jordan [Rodgers] or Colton [Underwood],” he said, adding that Rodger's significant other JoJo Fletcher “would love to do it too.” Ummm, but what about Underwood's girlfriend Cassie Randolph??
Interestingly, from the above list, everyone's in a relationship, which Mills acknowledged. Unlike Paradise, where the point is to find love/hook up/drink a bunch of alcohol on a beach in Mexico, this may have more of an athletic, competitive feel that doesn't necessarily have as much to do with coupling. But let's be real here: It's a Bachelor show, and there will be some singletons willing to get messy. I refuse to accept anything less.
We'll update when we know more.
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