Who will he give his rose to?
The Bachelor has introduced the 43 women who may be competing for the affections of Matt James on this season of the reality show.
The show gave fans an ‘early look’ at the potential contestants on their Facebook page on Monday, and included photographs and brief details about the gorgeous women.
Introducing potential candidates has been something the show has only recently started to implement, perhaps as a way of finding bad apples.
The amount of women will certainly be dwindled down, with each season typically starting with around 30 contestants.
This year’s potential cast features an array of diverse young women, aged 21 to 32.
Matt announced he had left to shoot the show in mid-September, and filming will take back at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, Pennsylvania, according to Us Weekly.
‘See y’all in 2 months’,’ Matt posted on Twitter.
Looking for love! This year’s Bachelor is Matt James
Matt was announced as the very first Black Bachelor in July, as the nation grappled with a racial reckoning following the death of George Floyd.
A friend of Bachelor Nation fan favorites Tyler Cameron and Hannah Brown, the former football player was originally cast for Clare Crawley’s season of The Bachelor, but was promoted to leading man status before filming ever began on her season.
The show has long come under fire for the lack of contestant diversity, with Rachel Lindsay being the only Black lead in the show’s 18-year history prior to James.
Host Chris Harrison recently revealed the changes to the show had been a long time coming.
‘I think it’s important to state that it didn’t just start with Clare’s season,’ Harrison told E! of Crawley’s contestants, which are more diverse than past seasons. ‘This is a movement and something we’ve been working on for quite some time. Step one was realizing there was an issue. And then step two is, OK, let’s do something about that.’
Many of the changes were done from within, meaning fans have not always been privy to the strides the series had been making.
‘You’re not gonna see some changes because it’s behind the camera, with our hiring practices, with people we brought in, people we promoted within our show,’ he explained. ‘And clearly you saw it with the announcement of Matt James. And you’re gonna see it with the casting in the women. But the idea is people want to be represented.
‘They want to see themselves represented. And The Bachelor and The Bachelorette is a love story and you want to see your love story told.’
In a statement announcing Matt’s casting, ABC explained: ‘We know we have a responsibility to make sure the love stories we’re seeing onscreen are representative of the world we live in, and we are proudly in service to our audience.’
‘This is just the beginning, and we will continue to take action with regard to diversity issues on this franchise. We feel so privileged to have Matt as our first Black Bachelor and we cannot wait to embark on this journey with him.’
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