This season of The Bachelorette has somehow been both the longest and shortest one yet: even though it feels like the Clare and Dale show kicked off forever ago, it’s also hard to believe we’re rapidly approaching family visits, fantasy suites, and the Bachelorette finale. Because Matt James’ upcoming season of The Bachelor is premiering early January, we know that Bachelorette Tayshia Adams’ love story — at least, the televised part of it — will reach a conclusion by the end of December.
That said, we’re still getting a lot more Tayshia. Franchise creator Mike Fleiss confirmed that after this week, the show will pick up with two weeks of back-to-back episodes, leading us to a December 22 finale. There are a lot of emotional, dramatic moments from the season preview that will need to fit into the last few episodes, including a shot of Tayshia crying, a few kisses we haven’t seen yet, and an appearance from her dad, who warns her against making the “biggest mistake” of her life.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
As Chris Harrison stand-in (and former Bachelorette) JoJo Fletcher says in a promo, Tayshia’s top four will head to hometown visits next week. . According to the preview for December 14’s episode, we’ll soon see the season’s Men Tell All and, likely during the same episode, the rose ceremony that will confirm Tayshia’s final four. It looks like hometowns will be saved for December 15, and then we can probably predict that, by the end of next week, Tayshia’s lineup will be whittled down to just three contenders.
If this were a typical Bachelorette season, this would be enough confirmation that Tayshia and three guys head to the fantasy suites on December 21 before two finalists make it to December 22. But it’s hard to predict how each episode will play out: this season’s abnormal filming schedule and leading lady switcheroo have thrown a wrench in the show’s usual format. (For one thing, many of Tayshia’s episodes aren’t ending with rose ceremonies.) In recent years, Bachelor Nation leads like Hannah Brown and Peter Weber also got live, extra “After the Final Rose” specials, but with COVID-19 safety protocols in place, it’s likely that won’t happen again this season.
And one of the biggest changes? This year, The Bachelorette moved from Monday to Tuesday nights to accommodate ABC’s pre-planned fall programming. But now that Dancing with the Stars is over, The Bachelorette is free and clear to return to Mondays — and keep that Tuesday night slot, too. Prepare your group texts, stock up on wine, and get ready for lots of tears.
Update: This story was originally published before the Dec. 8 episode of The Bachelorette.