Updated Jan. 9, 2017, 10:30 a.m. PT: We’re just over a month away from the premiere of Bachelor: Winter Games, and that means one thing: It’s promo time!
The first promo for the new Bachelor franchise spinoff is here, and it looks absolutely ridiculous, fam.
“The Bachelor has always been hot,” says a dramatic voice over a montage of shirtless men and make-out seshes. “But on Feb. 13, it gets cold.” Cue the gasping, shocked face of Winter Games contestant Ashley Iaconetti (because of course she’s coming back for this). This is all so extra, and I am so here for it.
Then there’s a montage of contestants trying to do winter sports with predictably disastrous results. One woman takes a particularly nasty-looking fall on skis. Chris Harrison, can you please tell us if she’s OK?
Then, we see a montage of women, all of them in tears. We see flashes of crying woman after crying woman until the promo lands on Iaconetti with her signature ugly-crying face on.
“I don’t understand why I’m always friend-zoned,” Iaconetti sobs in typical Iaconetti fashion. “I’m just so confused.”
We’ve been a little confused about how this show, which welcomes contestants who are already in relationships plus international contestants from Canada, China, Switzerland, Japan and Australia, will work in the finding-love aspect. But this promo shows it’s going to happen somehow, and it’s going to be (wait for it) the most dramatic Bachelor spinoff ever.
Original story, published Dec. 7, 2017: Filming for the latest Bachelor franchise spinoff, Bachelor: Winter Games, is officially underway, Bachelor Nation! We still don’t know the exact format of the show, but we do know that it’ll include athletic challenges and a lot of competition and that it’s open to all past members of Bachelor Nation — even international stars. Chris Harrison will still host (obvs), and somehow, the cast is open to more than just singles. We’re willing to bet that means people will be both breaking up and falling in love while they participate in weird snow sports. This is The Bachelor, after all, and the drama will come.
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While ABC officials and those who are working on the show are staying tight-lipped, they can’t keep every bit of gossip from leaking. Here’s everything we know so far about the show.
ESPN is on board
Mike Fleiss, the creator of the Bachelor franchise, tweeted Wednesday that ESPN reporter Hannah Storm will be involved with the show. We don’t know exactly how she’s involved, but we’re going to guess she’s some sort of commentator.
The great @HannahStormESPN is bringing her journalistic excellence to #TheBachelor Winter Games!!!
— Mike Fleiss (@fleissmeister) December 6, 2017
Storm later retweeted Fleiss, adding, “A competition unlike any other..Fun being part of the fam!”
A competition unlike any other..Fun being part of the fam! #BachelorWinterGameshttps://t.co/XWIbPTwB69
— Hannah Storm (@HannahStormESPN) December 7, 2017
Storm also Instagrammed this sweet shot of Harrison, which might provide some insight into the costume choices for the new series, which is being filmed in Vermont.
View this post on Instagram
And what’s that we see in the comment section of Storm’s pic? Someone wrote, “I’m so sad I didn’t get to meet you all in Manchester, VT as I was 20 mins away… my friends were happy to be apart of the parade! Hope you all liked Vermont!”
A parade, you say? Funny you should mention that, dear Instagram commenter, because that actually brings us to our next piece of juicy intel.
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Locals already know at least part of the cast, & and they’re ready to share
There was a welcome parade held this week in Manchester, Vermont, where Bachelor: Winter Games is being filmed, and that parade included at least a big chunk of the cast. Luckily for us, this is the age of social media, so obviously people filmed and photographed and shared this wealth of knowledge online for fans who aren’t lucky enough to live in Vermont.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcWMmctAYTl/
As we can see, there are a lot of familiar faces here. From the left, we have Ashley Iaconetti, Dean Unglert, Eric Bigger, Bibiana Julian, Lesley Anne Murphy, Josiah Graham, Jasmine Goode, Michael Garofola, Clare Crawley and Luke Pell. Sources also say Ben Higgins is in the photo, hiding behind Bigger. And this is just the Bachelor U.S. team. We still don’t know who the international contestants will be. Can you say dream team?
Unfortunately, there was no sign of Peter Kraus at the parade even though Fleiss previously revealed he would be in the cast. Did he just miss this event? Or has he pulled out altogether? We don’t have that info just yet.
There will be a few other blasts from the past
None other than Ryan Sutter posted a rather cryptic photo to Instagram on Wednesday. In it, he poses with Chris Harrison and Hannah Storm. There’s a parade happening in the background. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what’s going on here.
View this post on Instagram
Sutter captioned the photo, “Took a trip to Vermont and ran into two of my favorite people! @chrisbharrison and @espnhannahstorm… #topsecretmission #cantsaywhy.”
Clearly, he thinks he’s being sneaky, but it’s obvious he was there for filming. What we still don’t know is whether he’s competing in the Winter Games or just commentating. Oh, and Storm also posted that photo and mentioned in her caption that his wife, Trista, was there too.
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Bachelor: Winter Games doesn’t have a set premiere date yet, but it’s been rumored that it’ll coincide with the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. This might be the most excited some Bachelor fans have ever been for sports (*author raises hand*).
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