Everything We Know About When Matt James' Season of 'The Bachelor' Airs

(Image credit: Craig Sjodin)

published 12 June 2020

I could NOT be more delighted by this!! Former football player Matt James is our new Bachelor—and the first Black bachelor in show history (something the fans have desperately been asking for). You've very likely seen James before: He was part of the Quarantine Crew (you know, the house where Hannah Brown and Tyler Cameron were maybe together during the coronavirus pandemic?) that made epic videos on TikTok. James and Cameron are also longtime BFFs—Cameron is a big part of ABC Food Tours, which James founded to serve kids in underserved communities in New York. You may also have heard James' name because he used to be a contestant for Bachelorette Clare Crawley this year—and this is the first time in a long time that the lead isn't from a previous season. So when will we get this history-making season?? I want it as soon as is humanly possible—but the producers are still assessing the pandemic, and it may impact their schedule plans. Here's what we know, and we'll update when we learn more.

Matt James may see a January 2021 Bachelor air date.

Some of this may depend on The Bachelorette schedule, but although Crawley hasn't started filming, the producers had expressed tentative plans for filming in the summer months and an air date in the fall. This likely means we won't get Bachelor in Paradise this year. According to Entertainment Weekly, Chris Harrison recently said that the hope was to keep the schedule on track for a January 2021 Bachelor premiere:

Our goal, first and foremost, is to shoot The Bachelorette, and if we can do that in the next three to four months, we’re still fine. We can push The Bachelor a little bit and get that done as well...The way we do it now, is we finish [production on The Bachelor] right before Thanksgiving. But in the past, when we were doing more [seasons], we would go into December. We could easily shift two or three months. Look, would it crush our post-production department, who's having to edit it? Yeah. But really the way we do it now is so everybody can enjoy Christmas and New Year's. [Pushing it later] would just destroy Christmas and New Year's for everybody—but we could get it done.

Give it to me now, please.

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And it may have some Bachelor alumni cameos.

I mean, there's no way ABC doesn't bring on James' friends, right?? James and Cameron could have fun guy dates where they play basketball and talk about the ladies. And as I've seen people point out, this could be an interesting launching pad to talk about privilege and issues around race.

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Thus far we know very little about the season's details—whether it'll be in one location like Crawley's season, what the producers are thinking about travel, and so on, but it's already epic and it hasn't even started yet. I cannot wait.

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Katherine’s a contributing syndications editor at Marie Claire who covers fashion, culture, and lifestyle. In her role, she writes stories that are syndicated by MSN and other outlets. She’s been a full-time freelancer for over a decade and has had roles with Cosmopolitan (where she covered lifestyle, culture, and fashion SEO content) and Bustle (where she was their movies and culture writer). She has bylines in New York Times, Parents, InStyle, Refinery29, and elsewhere. Her work has also been syndicated by ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, Seventeen, Good Housekeeping, and Women’s Health, among others. In addition to her stories reaching millions of readers, content she's written and edited has qualified for a Bell Ringer Award and received a Communicator Award.

Katherine has a BA in English and art history from the University of Notre Dame and an MA in art business from the Sotheby's Institute of Art (with a focus on marketing/communications). She covers a wide breadth of topics: she's written about how to find the very best petite jeans, how sustainable travel has found its footing on Instagram, and what it's like to be a professional advice-giver in the modern world. Her personal essays have run the gamut from learning to dress as a queer woman to navigating food allergies as a mom. She also has deep knowledge of SEO/EATT, affiliate revenue, commerce, and social media; she regularly edits the work of other writers. She speaks at writing-related events and podcasts about freelancing and journalism, mentors students and other new writers, and consults on coursework. Currently, Katherine lives in Boston with her husband and two kids, and you can follow her on Instagram. If you're wondering about her last name, it’s “I go to dinner,” not “Her huge ego,” but she responds to both.