After the coronavirus pandemic delayed production on Season 16 of The Bachelorette, Warner Horizon Unscripted Television—which produces the ABC series—confirmed to Variety that plans are officially in place for filming to resume shortly.
Unlike past seasons, where contestants travel around the world on a journey to find love, Clare and her suitors will remain in an isolated location for the entire duration of the season. A source familiar with production operations tells Variety that the cast will be “traveling very soon” to a “private area” in Southern California in order to self-quarantine before the cameras start rolling.
“It will be a super safe paradise for everyone to shoot the show,” the source insists.
Other safety precautions include prohibiting visitors and members of the press from coming to set, and requiring regular testing for COVID-19 and temperature checks.
Last week, ABC exec Rob Mills told Ryan Seacrest in an interview that they plan to create a “bubble” for filming to run smoothly.
“[Dates] won’t be at the Bachelor mansion,” Mills also shared. “They’ll be at some sort of resort and we’ve scouted several of them… It will not be as over the top as… we had incredible travel planned for Clare’s season, going to Italy, all these places that were going to be great. But they’ll be plenty of different date locations that will hopefully be as close to The Bachelorette as possible.”
Prior to halting production in March, Bachelor Nation was introduced to the men who were cast for Clare’s season. However, host Chris Harrison confirmed that fans would see some new faces added to the lineup because of the delay. Additionally, Matt James will no longer appear on Clare’s season after being cast as the lead of The Bachelor for Season 25, which is set to begin filming in September.
The Bachelorette will air this fall on ABC. ♦
