If you’re a member of Bachelor Nation, you may want to know how to watch The Bachelor 2022 online for free to see who Clayton Echard chooses as the winner of season 26 and whose heart he breaks.

The Bachelor premiered on ABC in March 2002 with businessman Alex Michel as the first Bachelor. The show—which has aired for 26 seasons and produced several spinoffs including The Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise, Bachelor Pad, The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart and The Bachelor Winter Games—is a reality TV dating competition that sees dozens of contestants compete for one single Bachelor. Each week, the Bachelor goes on dates with his contestants—either one-on-one or in groups—and decides which contestants give roses to (which allows them to move onto next week) and which to eliminate.

The Bachelor follows this format until the final Rose Ceremony with the final two contestants, where he chooses one contestant to give his Final Rose to and one to send home. The Final Rose Ceremony also often sees The Bachelor propose to his winner. A special titled “After the Final Rose” also airs during the finale, which sees the Bachelor recap his season and update viewers on his relationship with his winner.

Since its premiere in 2002, The Bachelor has seen dozens of Bachelors and contestants find love with each other. The season 26 Bachelor is Clayton Echard, a 28-year-old medical sales rep from Columbia, Missouri, and a contestant from The Bachelorette season 18 with Michelle Young. Read on for how to watch The Bachelor 2022 online for free to see who wins Clayton’s Bachelor season and who he almost chooses in the end.

When does The Bachelor start? 

The Bachelor season 26 premieres on January 4, 2022, at 8 p.m. on ABC.

When does The Bachelor air?

The Bachelor season 26 airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

How to watch The Bachelor online

The Bachelor season 26 airs on ABC, which is available to stream on services like Hulu, Hulu+ With Live TV, Fubo TV and Sling TV. Hulu+ With Live TV and Fubo TV both cost $64.99 per month, while Sling TV has a current deal where users can subscribe for $10 for their first month. After the first month, users can continue to subscribe for $35 per month. The Bachelor is also available to stream on Hulu, which costs $5.99 per month for its ad-supported plan and $11.99 per month for its ad-free plan, the day after it airs.

How to watch The Bachelor online for free

How can one watch The Bachelor online for free? Read on for our tips and tricks to stream The Bachelor for cheap or free.

Watch The Bachelor With Fubo TV’s Free Trial

The best way to watch The Bachelor online for free is with Fubo TV’s free trial. Fubo TV offers a seven-day free trial, which is more than enough time to stream The Bachelor. Along with ABC,  Fubo TV offers more than 100 channels, including NBC, CNN and CBS, at least 250 hour of DVR and a streaming library with hundreds of hours of TV shows and movies. After the free trial ends, Fubo TV costs $64.99 per month, so be sure to cancel it before you’re charged.

Watch The Bachelor With Hulu’s Free Trial

Hulu is the most affordable option to watch The Bachelor if you can wait a day. The service offers a seven-day free trial and upload new episodes of ABC shows, including The Bachelor, less than 24 hours after they air live. Though you can’t watch episodes live (unless you subscribe to Hulu+ With Live TV), Hulu—which offers more than 1650 TV shows and 2,500 movies along with The Bachelor—starts at $5.99 per month for its basic subscription with ads. It’s ad-fee plan costs $11.99 per month. Both plans come with a 30-day free trial, so users can test it out before committing to a subscription.

Watch The Bachelor With Verizon’s Free Disney+, Hulu & ESPN+ Bundle

If you’re a Verizon customer (or know someone who is), there is another free option. For a limited time, customers with unlimited plans, such as Get More Unlimited and Play More Unlimited, have access to Verizon’s complimentary The Disney Bundle, which includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN. Disney+ and ESPN are nice, but Hulu is the real reward here to watch The Bachelor online for free. So how do you claim your free Hulu subscription? Well, Verizon has a FAQ here that explains the steps a Verizon customer needs to take to access Disney+ for free, but here’s the gist: Go to My Verizon site or the My Verizon App. In the app, go to the Plans & Devices page and click Explore Adds. On the site, choose Account on the top menu and click Add Ons & Apps. There, customers will be able to choose The Disney Bundle, which includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN. After choosing the bundle, click Get It Now. Enter the email address you want to use for your subscriptions, check your email for confirmation and voila.

Watch The Bachelor With Sling TV’s $10 Deal

While not free, Sling TV is an excellent option to watch The Bachelor for cheap.  Though the service doesn’t have a free trial, Sling has a current deal that offers users one month for just $10.  Sling offers two plans: Sling Blue and Sling Orange. (Sling Blue is more suited for news and entertainment, while Sling Orange is better for sports and family.) Both include the $10 first-month deal and cost $35 per month after the deal ends, if one chooses to subscribe. Both also offer 50 hours of DVR and local channels like ABC, which is where The Bachelor airs. If you had to choose one, though, we recommend Sling Blue to watch The Bachelor. Not only does the plan include more channels, but it also allows the user to stream on three devices (Sling Orange allows only one), which means that you can split the cost with two other people, who can stream the Olympics on their own devices. (That’s just $3.33 per person.)

Who is The Bachelor?

Clayton Echard is season 26 Bachelor. Clayton, a 28-year-old medical sales rep from Columbia, Missouri, was a contestant on The Bachelorette season 18 with Michelle Young. He was eliminated in week six in eighth place. He was sent home after a One-on-One date with Michelle, who told him that there’s “something missing” between them. “I just want to find love so badly,” he said in a confessional interview after his elimination. “And have a family. And start that chapter of my life. I want it more than anything else. I’ll do whatever it takes to get there. Whatever it takes.” After his elimination, Clayton received a letter from Michelle’s student, who cheers him on. “This just shows me I want kids one day,” Clayton said as he read the letter. The episode also shows a producer asking the student what should be next for Clayton, to which the student says, “He’ll be the next Bachelor.”

So who is The Bachelor season 26, Clayton Echard? According to his Linkedin, Clayton graduated from the University of Missouri, Columbia, in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in health professions and related clinical sciences. He’s also set to earn a Master of Business Administration in health and healthcare from Southeast Missouri State University in 2023. Clayton has worked a sales representative at Stryker, a medical devices company, since January 2018. He was hired in 2016 as a sales associate.

While at the University of Missouri, Clayton was a division 1 collegiate athlete for the university’s football team, the Missouri Tigers. After graduation, he was a professional NFL player for the Seattle Seahawks from August to September 2016. “After outperforming 4 other tight ends on a tryout basis with the Seattle Seahawks, I signed on as a free agent. While there, I practiced daily with the team and played in 4 preseason games. I made it past the first round of cuts, however, I was not able to make the final roster. Nonetheless, it was a unique experience that I was blessed to be a part of,” Clayton’s Linkedin reads. According to his Instagram, @claytonechard, Clayton is also a former freestyle rapper and refers to himself as a “washed-up athlete.” He confirmed that his current industry is still orthopaedic sales.

In his bio for Michelle’s Bachelorette season, Clayton described his “perfect woman” as someone who is “funny, independent, intelligent and athletic enough to join him at the gym for a workout.” “Clayton is a Missouri thoroughbred who has it all – good looks, a great job and a wonderful family,” his bio read. “The only thing missing is the perfect woman with whom to share his life. His dream woman is funny, independent, intelligent and athletic enough to join him at the gym for a workout. He wants to find something truly special and is willing to put in the hard work to find love that will last forever. Clayton is so excited to meet Michelle and loves that she has a passion for her career. His mom is a teacher just like Michelle, and he finds it impressive that she’s made this journey work without having to take time away from her students. Clayton truly believes that Michelle could be the perfect match for him. Will they hit it off?”

For his fun facts, Clayton listed the following:

– Clayton had a mohawk in college.

– Clayton’s rapping alter ego is named Clay-Doh.

– Clayton would love to own multiple gyms

Who is in The Bachelor cast?

The Bachelor season 26 cast includes 33 contestants. Among them is a former Olympian, a real estate agent at The Oppenheim Group (where Selling Sunset is filmed) and a woman who was engaged a month before Clayton’s Bachelor season started filming. See the full Bachelor season 26 cast below.

1. Breanna G., 28, San Diego, Calif.
2. Cassidy T., 26, Cave Creek, Ariz.
3. Claire H., 28, Virginia Beach, Va.
4. Daria R., 24, Baldwin, N.Y.
5. Eliza I., 25, Berlin, Germany.
6. Elizabeth C., 32, Highlands Ranch, Co.
7. Ency A., 28, Burbank, Calif.
8. Gabby W., 20, O’Fallon, Ill.
9. Genevieve P., 26, Rehoboth, Mass.
10. Hailey M., 26, Orlando, Fla.
11. Hunter H., 28, Lake Wylie, S.C.
12. Ivana N., 31, Snellville, Ga.
13. Jane P., 33, Los Angeles, Calif.
14. Jill C., 26, Scituate, R.I.
15. Kara G., 30, Cincinnati, Ohio.
16. Kate G., 32, Clarksville, Tenn.
17. Kira M., 32, Greensboro, N.C.
18. Lindsay D., 27, Warner Robins, Ga.
19. Lyndsey W., 28, Orange, Texas
20. Mara A., 32, Cherry Hill, N.J.
21. Marlena W., 30, Virginia Beach, Va.
22. Melina N., 27, Los Angeles, Calif.
23. Rachel R., 25, Chicago, Il.
24. Rianna H., 26, Mount Pleasant, Tex.
25. Salley C., 26, Greenville, S.C.
26. Samantha J., 26, Dayton, Ohio
27. Sarah H., 23, Spartanburg, S.C.
28. Serene R., 26, Oklahoma City, Okla.
29. Shanae A., 29, Sycamore, Ohio
30. Sierra J., 27, Oklahoma City, Okla.
31. Susie E., 28, Virginia Beach, Va.
32. Teddi W., 24, Redlands, Calif.
33. Tessa T., 26, Stamford, Conn.

The Bachelor airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC and is available to stream on Hulu. Here’s how to watch it for free.

Bachelor Nation by Amy Kaufman

Buy: 'Bachelor Nation' by Amy Kaufman $13.89

To get more of an inside scoop, check out Los Angeles Times writer Amy Kaufman’s book, Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure, for a deep dive into the Bachelor franchise. The book uncovers the secrets of Bachelor Nation, from how much the Bachelor and the Bachelorette are paid to the rules contestants have to follow, that producers don’t want fans to know. It’s a must-read for any Bachelor Nation member.

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