Bachelor Nation
‘Bachelorette’ Shocker! Was New Lead Already Chosen Before Season 22 Pause?
Bachelor Nation fans were shocked to hear that The Bachelorette has reportedly been delayed and won’t air in 2025, but those on the inside were seemingly just as caught off guard about the news.
Franchise alum Ashley Iaconetti Haibon and Rachel Recchia weighed in on the situation during the Tuesday, February 11, episode of the Almost Famous podcast. Recchia revealed that she heard things were underway for Season 22 before Deadline reported on the pause last week.
“I was shocked because I heard they picked the lead,” Recchia revealed. “I heard the lead was decided, and it made sense to me who they picked. Again, rumors.” She acknowledged that they all “hear so much” about the show that doesn’t always turn out to be true, but revealed that her tip about the new lead came “like two months ago.”
The revelation was quite shocking as it seemingly hinted that the alleged lead wasn’t one of the women on the current season of The Bachelor, since Recchia’s timeline dated back before Grant Ellis’ season premiered. For the most part, the leads of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are selected from the pool of rejected contestants on the previous season, although there have been times when showrunners have veered from this format.
“I heard a name,” Recchia confirmed. “I heard from someone who usually knows. Normally it’s a good source. But I don’t know.”
Iaconetti was stunned to hear Recchia’s rumor, which she said was “really juicy” and made her think that the decision to pause The Bachelorette may have to do with ratings for the current Bachelor season. However, she also revealed that Ben Higgins had heard the decision was made before Ellis’ season started airing. “Ben seemed to know before the season premiered that this was something that they were considering,” she added.
That didn’t totally add up for the women, though, as Recchia pointed out that she wasn’t privy to the news about the delay before it came out publicly. “I saw this on Instagram. Normally, I feel like we hear stuff on the inside,” she said. “I didn’t hear anything.”
Deadline reported on February 7 that The Bachelorette has “not been canceled and will likely come back” in the future. The outlet said, “It’s unlikely to air this year but insiders have not completely ruled out its return later this year.” ABC has already confirmed that Bachelor in Paradise will be coming back for Season 10 this summer, while it’s expected that The Golden Bachelor will return in the fall.
2024 also featured a programming shake-up for Bachelor Nation, with Bachelor in Paradise being put on hiatus and not airing over the summer. Instead, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and The Golden Bachelorette filled the year’s slate.
