Many movies and TV shows have had to halt production due to the coronavirus, but perhaps no franchise has been more dismantled by the pandemic than The Bachelor. While Peter Weber's season finished just before the pandemic took hold — although the live audience was required to sign coronavirus disclosure forms — Clare Crawley's season of The Bachelorette has been postponed until the virus passes, and now Bachelor In Paradise is also in question. For that, at least, ABC has a plan: Bachelor In Quarantine.
Of course, ABC is currently airing The Bachelor Presents: Listen To Your Heart, which is tiding us over during this uncertain moment, but soon they'll need to adapt to this new quarantined environment. ABC alternative boss Rob Mills told Deadline that the concept of Bachelor In Quarantine has definitely been discussed, and could prove as better-than-nothing alternative until the more typical Bachelor series can start filming.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
“The best thing about The Bachelor is its willingness to evolve as a format so if we need to shoot a cycle that reflects these times, that’s what we’re going to look at doing,” Mills told the outlet.
However, Bachelor In Paradise still hasn't been cancelled outright, and host Chris Harrison told Refinery29 he hasn't given up hope.
"I like to be optimistic and so I'm going to stay with that until I hear otherwise," he explained. "I'm champing at the bit and it's not sexy, but I want to put everyone back to work. We have a huge family of people that you guys don't get to see. I am grateful I get to be the voice and the face of this, but there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people behind the scenes. They want to get back to work and we are going to put them all back to work as soon as we can get back," he says.
As for Clare, she's still sitting tight — for however long that may be.
“She’s always been resilient,” Mills said. “We’re going to do her a season and it’s going to be fantastic. If she finds a person, then this all means it was all meant to be. We’ll be nimble.”