A Music-Based Bachelor Spinoff Has Been Confirmed By ABC, & It’s Coming This Spring

Just when you thought ABC didn’t have any more reality dating tricks up its sleeve, the network has confirmed a new music-based Bachelor spinoff. Yep, true story. Even more exciting? The Bachelor: Listen to Your Heart is coming your way very soon — ABC is sandwiching it between Peter Weber‘s season of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette premiere, which typically takes place in May.

We know, we know; you want specifics. Here they come. For starters, you can go ahead and mark your Bachelor Nation calendar for April 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. That’s when Listen to Your Heart will make its debut. It will follow 20 single men and women on their quest to find love. ABC revealed those morsels, along with a synopsis, during Wednesday’s Television Critics Association winter press tour. Per ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke, it’s exactly what you might expect of a music-driven dating series on the surface.

“The format is an evolution of The Bachelor. Contestants will be talented musicians and people whose lives and work revolve around music,” she explained. “[The series will] capture what we all know: love, emotion and music are intertwined. How people find each other through songwriting and singing is the thrust of the show.” So basically, The Bachelor meets A Star Is Born. 

Since this is The Bachelor franchise, fans can expect some of the trademark competitive dating gimmicks the flagship series is known for. The 20 hopefuls will all be cohabiting and going on Bachelor-style dates centered on music. Here’s where it gets really interesting. Once contestants start coupling off, they’ll go through a series of musical challenges — think live performances judged by music industry heavyweights. These challenges will be evaluated based on whether or not the performances reveal the couple’s true connection.

So, that’s what we know. What’s unclear at this point is whether Chris Harrison will be hosting, per the norm, or whether Hannah-Brown-Bachelorette-villain Jed Wyatt will manage to strum enough heartstrings to score a spot on the series. When asked about the latter, Burke teased, “I have so many jokes. Anything can happen. Tune in to find out.”