Bachelor in Paradise's group of rotating hosts for this summer's season will reportedly include rapper Lil Jon, former NSYNC member Lance Bass, and actor Tituss Burgess as replacements for now-departed longtime The Bachelor franchise host Chris Harrison.
ADVERTISEMENT
Reports emerged earlier this month that actor and comedian David Spade would be one of several celebrity guest hosts to lead Bachelor in Paradise's seventh season this year in Chris' place, and Variety has now reported Lil Jon, Lance, and Tituss will also join him.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
David, Lil Jon, Lance and Tituss will reportedly take turns guiding former The Bachelor and The Bachelorette alums on their journey to find love in Mexico.
Filming reportedly began earlier this week and Bachelor in Paradise 7 is set to premiere Monday, August 16 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.
ADVERTISEMENT
Deals have reportedly already closed for the four celebrities and so they will definitely be making an appearance on Bachelor in Paradise's seventh season, Variety reported.
Lance and Tituss are the first gay men to be cast on The Bachelor franchise. (While Season 23 The Bachelor star Colton Underwood is gay, he waited well over a year after his season aired to come out to the public).
As for Lil Jon, he's no stranger to the show. He once appeared as a guest on The Bachelorette starring Becca Kufrin during a Season 14 one-on-one date.
In addition to the celebrities mentioned above, The Bachelorette alum Wells Adams and former The Bachelor star Nick Viall will also help out with their significant others, Modern Family actress Sarah Hyland and surgical technician Natalie Joy, respectively.
Variety confirmed Wells and his fiancee Sarah's participation on June 9, while Reality Steve spoiler blogger Steve Carbone previously claimed Nick and his girlfriend Natalie had traveled to Mexico to lend their assistance.
ADVERTISEMENT
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Wells and Nick's deals with their partners reportedly haven't been finalized with ABC yet and so their roles on Bachelor in Paradise remain unclear at this time.
ABC has yet to officially announce any of the Bachelor in Paradise guest hosts or cast members.
The rotating hosts were designed to be a temporary fix for the show after Chris' racism controversy, but ABC and Chris publicly declared Tuesday that Chris' voluntary leave of absence from The Bachelor franchise has become a permanent one and he will not return as host for any future seasons.
"I've had a truly incredible run as host of The Bachelor franchise, and now I'm excited to start a new chapter," Chris wrote in a Tuesday statement posted to his Instagram account.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I'm so grateful to Bachelor Nation for all of the memories we've made together. While my two-decade journey is wrapping up, the friendships I've made will last a lifetime."
ABC is reportedly therefore on the search for a permanent host for The Bachelor franchise, including for The Bachelorette's upcoming eighteenth season starring Michelle Young in Fall 2021.
Chris, who has hosted The Bachelor franchise since its 2002 premiere, reached a mid-range eight-figure settlement with ABC to exit The Bachelor franchise for good, Deadline reported earlier this week.
Chris allegedly agreed to a big payoff just hours after The Bachelorette's seventeenth season premiered on Monday night and featured former The Bachelorette stars Kaitlyn Bristowe and Tayshia Adams filling in for Chris as co-hosts.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
ADVERTISEMENT
Chris announced in February he'd be "stepping aside" from his hosting duties with The Bachelor franchise "for a period of time" to educate himself on racism in society in a "profound" and "productive" manner after he made offensive remarks in an early-February Extra interview with The Bachelorette's first Black leading lady, Rachel Lindsay.
In the Extra interview, Chris had defended The Bachelor Season 25 contestant Rachael Kirkconnell's racially-ignorant and racially-insensitive actions in the last several years and adopted a dismissive attitude towards photos of Rachael that resurfaced from an antebellum-plantation themed "Old South" fraternity party at Georgia College & State University in 2018.
Chris had called for "grace" and "compassion" for Rachael and also criticized the "woke police" and the "unbelievably alarming" response of anger and frustration to the young woman's actions.
Chris subsequently issued three apologies for his offense, two on Instagram and one verbal apology during a March appearance on Good Morning America.
On GMA at the time, Chris said he hoped to come back to The Bachelor franchise, explaining, "This is a franchise that has been a part of my life for the better part of 20 years and I love it. I plan to be back and I want to be back."
But several sources told E! News in April that "many" The Bachelor and The Bachelorette alums from seasons past were "apprehensive" about signing up for Bachelor in Paradise 7 or even declined their invitations in the wake of Chris' racism controversy.
One insider told the website at the time, "A lot of people are removing themselves from the franchise."
Click here to find out which bachelors and bachelorettes are reportedly going on Bachelor in Paradise this summer.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!