Now that Michelle Young’s season of The Bachelorette is on air, fans are already looking forward to the OG series of the franchise, The Bachelor.
The Bachelor lead hasn’t been officially announced by ABC. However, as Monsters & Critics previously reported, rumors surfaced that the lead was going to be a contestant from Michelle’s season of The Bachelorette.
It was then pieced together that Clayton Echard was that lucky contestant and shortly after that, footage popped up of him filming his intro segment for The Bachelor.
Clayton is a 28-year-old medical sales rep who aspires to open and own several gyms.
The Missouri native has already won some Bachelorette viewers over with his positive attitude and sense of humor. He showed off his wild side when he first met fifth-grade teacher Michelle and offered her a ruler to spank him with.
Here’s everything we know about Clayton’s season.
Who will be on Clayton’s season of The Bachelor?
Besides Clayton, there will be plenty of new faces on his season of The Bachelor.
One of those is the host. It has been confirmed that Jesse Palmer will replace Chris Harrison as the permanent Bachelor host.
In addition to being an ESPN host, Jesse appeared as The Bachelor for Season 5. He didn’t find lasting love there but he’s now happily married to Emely Fardo.
Even though Clayton hasn’t been officially announced as The Bachelor, his potential contestants have been revealed.
Reality Steve has already revealed who gets Clayton’s first impression rose.
He tweeted, “While I did not know who got Michelle’s first impression rose until that group pic, I do know who got Clayton’s. Teddi Wright received Clayton’s first impression rose.”
Additionally, he revealed that Shanae Ankney is set to be the main “villain” of the season.
As for other juicy gossip on the contestants, Gabby Windey has previously dated two Bachelor Nation stars.
She dated Dean Unglert, long before he was on The Bachelorette.
The same goes for Blake Horstmann. Both Bachelorette stars had nothing but positive words about their ex.
In fact, Dean suspects that she’s either going to win or become the next Bachelorette.
Filming details for Clayton’s season of The Bachelor
Clayton’s season of The Bachelor has already begun. Filming started at the end of September, a few weeks before The Bachelorette premiered.
For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic, the season will be filmed at the Bachelor Mansion. This may mean that the show will incorporate traveling back into the experience.
The season is set to air in January 2022 so it’s likely that filming will wrap sometime in late November or early December.
There’s more good news for fans of the franchise. Monsters & Critics previously reported that there will not be one but two seasons of The Bachelor for 2022.
The second season will reportedly air soon after Clayton’s when The Bachelorette normally runs. The Bachelorette will be pushed to the fall slot that Michelle has now.
It’s likely that with such a short turn around, the next Bachelor will be another contestant from Michelle’s season.
Viewers will have to continue watching Michelle’s season to get to know their next Bachelor lead more.
The Bachelor returns to ABC in January 2022.