The Bachelorette alums Kaitlyn Bristowe and Tayshia Adams are officially returning as co-hosts for this fall's upcoming eighteenth season starring Michelle Young.
ADVERTISEMENT
ABC has announced the network is keeping Kaitlyn and Tayshia on as co-hosts following Chris Harrison's permanent departure from the franchise after Matt James' The Bachelor season earlier this year, according to The Wrap.
RELATED LINK: MICHELLE YOUNG'S 'THE BACHELORETTE' SEASON 18 BACHELORS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED BY ABC -- MEET THE MEN! (PHOTOS)
Kaitlyn and Tayshia most recently served as co-hosts for Katie Thurston's The Bachelorette season, which is currently airing on Monday nights and will air its Season 17 finale on August 9 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.
Given this summer's seventh season of Bachelor in Paradise will be hosted by a rotating group of celebrity guest hosts -- including comedian David Spade and former N'SYNC boyband member Lance Bass, with The Bachelorette alum Wells Adams taking on a new "master of ceremonies" role -- fans have been waiting to hear whether a permanent replacement for the franchise would be named ahead of Michelle's season premiering Tuesday, October 19 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.
ADVERTISEMENT
Reality Steve blogger Steve Carbone tweeted on July 11 that Kaitlyn and Tayshia agreed to return to host Michelle's season but ABC had yet to hire a new host for the long-term.
In a subsequent July 13 blog posting, Carbone predicted Season 18 of The Bachelorette will be the franchise's last season featuring co-hosts.
"My guess is this will be the show's last season of co-hosts, and by the time [The Bachelor] films, they will have settled on a permanent host moving forward. Nothing set in stone just yet, but I hear that's the plan," Carbone wrote.
ABC released the names of 35 potential bachelors who hope to compete for Michelle's heart late last month.
Michelle's season reportedly began filming on July 30 and is expected to conclude around September 10.
ADVERTISEMENT
RELATED LINK: GREG GRIPPO IS ALLEGEDLY A "SCHEMER" AND FAME-SEEKER WHO TRIED TO GET ON 'THE BACHELORETTE' FOR "YEARS"
Michelle and her cast of guys reportedly moved into the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa in Indian Wells, CA, and will eventually travel to Michelle's home state of Minnesota, where they'll be staying at the Marquette Hotel.
In a departure from the franchise's other recent seasons that have filmed amid the coronavirus pandemic, Michelle and some of her bachelors will also reportedly get to travel to more places than just California and Minnesota for hometown dates and Fantasy Suite dates.
Meanwhile, Chris has told The Bachelorette fans on social media that he misses them. Many viewers and members of Bachelor Nation have expressed how the show is simply not the same without him.
In the wake of Chris' racism controversy, he and ABC publicly declared in June that Chris' voluntary leave of absence from The Bachelor franchise -- which began in February -- has become a permanent one and he will not return as host for any future seasons.
ADVERTISEMENT
Chris wrote in a June 8 statement on Instagram how he's "excited to start a new chapter" and "so grateful to Bachelor Nation for all of the memories," but multiple sources told E! News in June that Chris is "saddened" and "frustrated" about his The Bachelor departure given the show had been his "whole life" and he really wanted to come back.
Deadline reported in early June that Chris, who hosted The Bachelor franchise since its 2002 premiere, reached a mid-range eight-figure settlement with ABC to exit The Bachelor franchise for good.
But Variety subsequently reported Chris only received $9 million as his supposed big payout.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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 Katie refused to star on Season 17 of The Bachelorette in March if Chris was going to participate, and 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 over Chris' scandal.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' BACHELOR GREG GRIPPO'S SISTER SLAMS KATIE THURSTON AFTER KATIE "LIKES" MEME QUESTIONING GREG'S INTENTIONS
One insider told the website at the time, "A lot of people are removing themselves from the franchise."
The Bachelorette Season 16 bachelor, Ivan Hall, for example, told E!'s Daily Pop in February, "If they have future shows and if they were to ask me to be on Bachelor in Paradise or something like that -- and I'm sure a lot of other contestants feel this way as well -- I wouldn't feel comfortable if Chris is there, to be quite frank."
Ivan added, "[I'm] not saying he can't make a recovery, can't learn from all of this, but, you know... it would just be too soon, really."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!