The Bachelor starring Arie Luyendyk Jr. will premiere in January 2018, and ABC has announced the official date.
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The professional race car driver turned real estate agent's journey to find love will be televised beginning Monday, January 1, 2018 at 8PM ET/PT.
That's right. Bachelor Nation will be able to ring in the New Year with Arie!
Production on Season 22 of The Bachelor is underway, as filming began on September 20 in Los Angeles, CA.
Additional details regarding the new edition -- including the cast of 30 or so bachelorettes -- have yet to be released by ABC, but to read spoilers about some of the ladies who have allegedly been chosen to compete, click here.
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Arie, 36, first entered the reality dating franchise six years ago when he competed for Emily Maynard's heart on The Bachelorette's eighth season.
Arie fell madly in love with Emily, who is now married with three children, but he finished her season as her runner-up behind winner Jef Holm.
Arie was ready to propose then, so hopefully he'll find "the one" on The Bachelor and walk away with a fiancee -- instead of a broken heart.
Following his first stint on reality television, Arie was extremely close to being cast as the Bachelor for Season 17 in 2013 and then Season 19 in 2015, which starred Sean Lowe and Chris Soules, respectively.
For the show's nineteenth season, Arie revealed to Us Weekly in Fall 2016 that he had booked a flight to Los Angeles and signed contracts with The Bachelor executives only to have the rug pulled out from beneath him last minute.
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Bachelor Nation has had a polarizing reaction to ABC choosing Arie as its next leading man since The Bachelorette's Season 13 runner-up Peter Kraus was a frontrunner and fan-favorite for the position, but Chris Harrison and producers have faith it will be a great season and a nice change of pace.
Hosted by Chris Harrison, The Bachelor is produced by Next Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Television. Mike Fleiss, Elan Gale, Bennett Graebner and Nicole Woods serve as executive producers.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski