The Bachelor: The Most Unforgettable -- Ever!, a new retrospective spinoff that will revisit and recap an entire prior season of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette in a single broadcast, will air this summer on ABC.
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Given production of The Bachelorette's sixteenth season and Bachelor in Paradise's seventh edition have been delayed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic, ABC has announced it will air The Bachelor: The Most Unforgettable -- Ever! on Monday nights this summer beginning with a three-hour episode on June 8 at 8PM ET/PT.
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The 10-episode series will be hosted by Chris Harrison and feature a format in which each episode will spotlight one of most memorable seasons in The Bachelor's 24-season history and The Bachelorette's 15-season history.
Each Monday night, Harrison will kick things off from The Bachelor mansion in Malibu, CA, and reach into the Bachelor vault to provide viewers with a look back at a favorite prior season -- including crushing Rose Ceremonies, passionate marriage proposals, unexpected new arrivals, emotional meltdowns, big breakups, and romantic moments.
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The episodes will also include virtual updates from The Bachelor franchise alums, who will reveal what's been happening in their lives ever since the final rose.
"The Bachelor: The Most Unforgettable -- Ever! is a love letter to our fans who have been with us through some of the most heartwarming, heartbreaking and unexpected moments throughout Bachelor history," ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke said in a statement.
"We can't wait for Bachelor Nation to fall in love all over again as we take this wild journey down memory lane."
Harrison told Variety this spinoff gives Bachelor Nation something to watch amid these uncertain and unpredictable times due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and government quarantine regulations.
"Immediately, there was this clamoring and desire from our fans to watch old seasons," Harrison said, explaining that the idea for the summer show came from viewer input on Twitter.
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The seasons to be featured on The Bachelor: The Most Unforgettable -- Ever! have yet to be determined, but Season 18 of The Bachelor starring Juan Pablo Galavis will reportedly be one of them in order to showcase the franchise's next The Bachelorette star, Clare Crawley.
"If you don't know Clare or aren't invested in Clare yet, that will give you a deeper investment in her season," ABC reality chief Robert Mills told Variety, confirming that ABC will begin production on her The Bachelorette season as soon as it's safe to do so.
(Mills is reportedly hopeful The Bachelorette production can start in mid-Summer 2020, allowing for a fall debut).
According to sources, the very first seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, which aired in 2002 and 2003, respectively, are in the running to be showcased, Variety reported.
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Other frontrunners reportedly include Kaitlyn Bristowe on The Bachelorette's eleventh season, Sean Lowe on The Bachelor's seventeenth season, and Ben Higgins on The Bachelor's twentieth season.
Viewers can expect, however, Peter Weber's season of The Bachelor will not be featured since the show just wrapped in March.
"A lot of our fans have not seen some of the classic seasons that made this franchise what it is because they're younger, they came in the middle or maybe three quarters of the way into this franchise," Harrison told Variety.
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"Our thought was, 'Let's just give them a little taste of some of these great seasons, do something different in a bite-sized format.' We're going to see the entire journey of one season in a single night, and along the way, talk to some of the characters, find out what they're doing, where they are now, and what those moments meant to them."
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Harrison will reportedly film at the mansion with a skeleton crew, who will practice social distancing on the set.
"As far as safety is concerned, it will be very deep, very detailed," Harrison explained.
"I'll probably mic myself, the crew will come in and set up an unmanned camera, and there will be one producer in the other room directing the camera. For the interviews, I will be reaching out via the Internet to speak to our alums, so no one else will be in the house, no one else will be in contact."
Mills added the spinoff will air "all the good parts" of previous seasons without all the filler.
"Even if you've seen the past seasons, it will provide new context and new information, and will just be a fun way for all of us to get together in Bachelor Nation and get back on social media together," Mills told Variety.
"One thing we've learned is how much this show means to people. This show is so different -- so many friendships have been formed through this show. Socially, it just provides this bond. People are scared and feeling alone, and it might sound crazy, but this is a way to make feel people not as alone, at least for Monday nights."
The Bachelor: The Most Unforgettable -- Ever! is being produced by Next Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Unscripted Television.
Harrison, Mike Fleiss, Martin Hilton, Nicole Woods, Bennett Graebner, Peter Gust, Tim Warner, and Peter Geist are serving as executive producers.
In the meantime, The Bachelor Presents: Listen To Your Heart continues to air on Monday nights at 8PM ET/PT, and ABC is reportedly considering a new Bachelor In Quarantine spinoff.
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