It’s about time. The Bachelor made history in June when Matt James was cast as the franchise’s first Black Bachelor. With his season on the way, there’s never been a better time to obsess over The Bachelor 2021’s release date, cast and spoilers. But before we talk about what we know so far about The Bachelor season 25, let’s celebrate this milestone in Bachelor history one more time.

In a June interview with Good Morning America, Matt explained what it means for him to be the first Black Bachelor. “It’s an honor,” he said at the time. “I’m just going to lean into myself and how my mom raised me and hopefully when people invite me into their homes on Monday night they’re going to see that I’m not much different from them and they see that diverse love stories are beautiful.”

Matt’s announcement came after tens of thousands of Bachelor fans signed a petition demanding that ABC cast its first Black Bachelor. The petition also called for the network to hire more diversity both in front of and behind the camera. In his GMA interview, Matt also referenced season 21 Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay, the first Black Bachelorette, who claimed that she would boycott the franchise if serious steps toward diversity were not made.

“When Rachel speaks, we listen. She has a very important voice in all this, being the first black woman, person of color, to have a lead,” Matt said at the time. “I think that we’re all filing suit in that conversation and this is hopefully the first of many black men to be in the position that I’m in right now.”

Find out what we know about The Bachelor season 25 ahead.

A version of this article was originally published in June 2020. 

Who’s The Bachelor 2021?

Matt James is the season 25 Bachelor (and the first Black male lead in the franchise’s 18-year history and 40 seasons.) Matt is a 28-year-old real estate broker, entrepreneur and community organization founder. He lives in New York City with his best friend and roommate Tyler Cameron, who was the runner-up on Hannah Brown’s season of The Bachelorette. (Tyler and Matt are also partners in their nonprofit ABC Food Tours. The two met as college football players for Wake Forest University.)

Before he was confirmed as the next Bachelor, Matt was revealed as a contestant on Clare Crawley’s season of The Bachelorette. He and Clare had some drama when he talked about her in an interview, which led her to call him out for speaking about her without even meeting her yet. (Set to start filming in March 2s020, production for Clare’s season of The Bachelorette was postponed to July 2020 due to the current health crisis.) In his GMA interview, Matt revealed his disappointment when he learned that he would no longer be on Clare’s season.

“My first reaction was, ‘Does this mean I don’t get to meet Clare?,’ because I was looking forward to meeting her,” he said at the time. “I had set aside all this time and we’d gone out to California and been called back for quarantine. I’m super excited for her and her season but I’m looking forward to meeting her eventually.”

When is the Bachelor 2021 premiere date?

Source: Instagram

ABC announced that The Bachelor season 25 will premiere on Monday, January 4, at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Reality Steve confirmed in August 2020 that Matt’s season started filming at the end of September 2020. Unlike The Bachelorette season 16, which pushed back production four months from its usual schedule because of the current health crisis, Matt’s season seems to be on the same schedule as previous Bachelor seasons, which also started filming in September. Matt also confirmed in September 2020 that he had started filming the next season of The Bachelor. “See y’all in a few months,” he wrote.

https://twitter.com/RealitySteve/status/1296873378792591360?s=20 https://twitter.com/RealitySteve/status/1299066317257932801?s=20

Where is the Bachelor 2021 filmed?

Due to the current health crisis, Clare’s season of The Bachelorette filmed at the La Quinta Resort & Club in La Quinta, California, instead of the Bachelor mansion. Reality Steve reported in August 2020 that Matt’s season of The Bachelor will also not film at The Bachelor mansion. Instead, production will at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Pennsylvania, and will likely follow the same health rules as Clare’s production. (Every crew and cast member must quarantine for two weeks upon arrival at the resort, and there are no in and out privileges.)

Reality Steve also revealed that Nemacolin is where Jojo Fletcher filmed part of The Bachelorette season 11 and is the location where Chad Johnson was eliminated. Reality Steve also found that several Bachelor alums, including Jason Tartick, Kelley Flanagan and Peter Weber, have done promo for Nemacolins, which led him to believe that the resort is associated with the Bachelor franchise.

Who’s in the Bachelor 2021 cast?

The Bachelor revealed 43 women who were vetted for The Bachelor 2021 cast in October 2020. A full list of The Bachelor season 25 contestants can be seen here, but here are some highlights: Madison will be a frontrunner, as she and Matt have dated in the past. Reality Steve revealed that Madison and Matt dated in the summer of 2019 at the same time Gigi Hadid and Tyler Cameron dated (which meant that Matt and Madison went on a lot of double dates with Gigi and Tyler.) Mari is also interesting as she’s the former Miss Maryland 2019 and competed against Victoria P. and Alayah from Peter’s season of The Bachelor. Serena C. is also friends with Eunace from Peter’s season. Another contedstant to look at is Kit, who is the youngest contestant this season at 21 years old. Despite the eight-year age difference with Matt, it doesn’t look like any of his contestants are not age-appropriate for him.

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