Fans of all things Bachelor still don’t know what to expect after ABC fully canceled Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of The Bachelorette following domestic violence allegations against the leading lady to-be. What’s next after a scandal like that? Does ABC just start cooking up the next season of The Bachelor like nothing happened? Do they pivot to a spin-off like Bachelor in Paradise or a new season of The Golden Bachelorette? Does the entire Bachelor Nation crumble like Pompeii? WE DO NOT KNOW! But here’s what we can kind of put together.
Has The Bachelor even been renewed?
Technically, yes, the show was renewed for season 30 way back in June of 2025. At that time, the network also promoted Scott Teti, who was running Bachelor in Paradise, to be the executive producer and showrunner for the upcoming season after Claire Freeland and Bennett Graebner left, citing an allegedly toxic workplace environment. So it’s in the works. So is Bachelor in Paradise, if you even care, potentially with some of Taylor’s now jobless (jk) suitors.
However, after everything that’s happened off screen on the show and off the show, The Hollywood Reporter,Vox, and former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay have all been calling for ABC to put the entire franchise to bed. Quit while you’re behind, right?
But, like, actually when would The Bachelor happen IF it did?
Presuming that ABC continues to go ahead with season 30 of The Bachelor, it’s still not super clear what’s going to happen. New seasons of The Bachelorette have happened more or less yearly since the show’s inception, but kind of whenever month-wise. The same goes for Bachelor in Paradise, though summer is typically a safe bet.
The last sixteen seasons of The Bachelor, however, have consistently premiered in January and concluded in March. This most recent January, 2026, is the first time that hasn’t happened since 2008! So you can’t even really say that The Bachelor season 30 will premiere in January of 2027 with confidence. The pattern has been broken too.
However, that’s pretty convenient if ABC wanted to push a new season of The Bachelor out there to fill the rose gap later this spring or in the fall, programming-wise.
Who would even be The Bachelor next?
First of all, let’s address the elephant in the room: there obviously won’t be a recent Bachelorette finalist on deck to be the Bachelor. If the plan was to start filming in April or May, when The Bachelorette ended, that’s obviously been scrapped along with everything else.
Second, the appeal of entering this franchise has to be less appealing now. Why would you want to follow this mess? The right reasons can’t be worth it, right? That said, if someone’s “wrong reasons” for doing The Bachelor are just to get a lucrative podcast deal or get cast on a future season of The Traitors, I don’t think I can fault them. It’s not love, but it’s not nothing!
There are a few potential candidates already. Former Bachelorette winner Doug Mason has expressed interest in taking on the mantle. Comedian and television personality Jason Freid suggested on social media that Ryan Seacrest should do it, given that he’s currently on the apps. It’s honestly not a bad idea. Keep it in house (kind of) to then (hopefully) avoid further conflict and do damage control.
