Chris Harrison Addresses The Future Of The Bachelor Franchise Amid The Coronavirus Pandemic

Chris Harrison warned that the entire Bachelor franchise could change due to the coronavirus pandemic. The ABC host provided an update on the entire franchise amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The Bachelorette has been postponed. The dating series was set to premiere on Monday, May 18. Instead, fans will have to settle for the new series, Listen to Your Heart. The music dating show premieres on Monday, April 18, and was supposed to end a week before The Bachelorette.

Now everything is up in the air. The Bachelorette was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Last month, Clare Crawley was supposed to meet her men at the Bachelor mansion for the first time. Clare and the men got their phones back and returned home. Chris Harrison sat down for an exclusive interview with Entertainment Tonight’s Lauren Zima on the plans for The Bachelorette, including the entire Bachelor franchise amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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He exclaimed that filming The Bachelorette is ABC’s “number one priority over all other shows.” Clare and her suitors were released by production after filming shut down on March 13. Filming was expected to resume two weeks later, but with the ever-growing health concerns, there is no set date to resume filming again. There’s a possibility that filming will resume in the summer. But Chris doesn’t want to make any promises.

“In this quarantine time, I am never going to say never to anything again,” Chris explained. “It is unprecedented. We have never dealt with this, our schedule – like everyone’s – is ripped apart. We had a calendar. It is completely in the shredder.”

Meanwhile, Bachelor in Paradise and Bachelor Summer Games are both up in the air. It’s unlikely that these shows will return this summer. But there’s a new group of Bachelor Nation contestants that could be used for future episodes – the cast of Listen to Your Heart.

“Maybe that’s the move – we got some great cast members that you guys are about to be introduced to on Monday, and I think people are going to fall in love with them and connect with them the way they do with Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants,” Chris said. “So maybe that’s a way to get there faster, I don’t know!”

The Bachelor franchise is preparing for its latest spinoff, Listen to Your Heart. The series will feature 20 contestants going on Bachelor-style dates and taking on musical challenges, as they look for love and a music career. It’s set to premiere since the production team is working from home to make this possible.

Say it with me now: Chris. Harrison. pic.twitter.com/TSjZ26yE5p

— The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart (@Listen2HeartABC) April 11, 2020

“People were asking, ‘Why can’t we get Listen to Your Heart earlier?’ We were rushing to get Listen to Your Heart out on Monday, April 13,” Chris continued. “We were rushing the post department, now we are doing this from home, so even the version that I just watched, it’s not cute, it’s not ready to go, it’s not ready to air.”

The Bachelor typically films from September to November, which is still months away. Chris hinted that the original series could also face some major changes as well. That means the filming schedule will have to change. Since Bachelor Nation is looking for new ways to stay entertained during the quarantine, Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss hinted that the production team is coming up with creative ways to still have Bachelor Mondays.

No matter what happens, Chris feels that the entire Bachelor franchise will change.

“I can’t imagine the show will look exactly the same,” he said. “One thing about The Bachelor that has been really good socially is that we have always just developed and embraced moments no matter what is happening in the world, and this is going to be one of those times.”

The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart premieres Monday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.