The Bachelorfranchise is shaking things up with its casting announcement of Grant Ellis as its next lead.
The very night he was sent packing by Jenn Tran on the Aug. 12 episode of The Bachelorette, it was announced he would be the next Bachelor on the ABC franchise. The casting news came early, before even the reality show’s hometown dates, and is an apparent effort to find better-suited contestants for the franchise stars.
Who is Grant Ellis?
The 30-year-old day trader from Newark, N.J., currently living in Houston, is the second Black lead on The Bachelor following Matt James in 2021.
"A self-proclaimed mama’s boy, Ellis’s infectious smile and unwavering positivity instantly brightens every room he enters. The former pro basketball player is passionate about his career as a day trader, but when he’s not immersed in the fast-paced world of finance, you can find him cheering on the Lakers, hitting strikes at the bowling alley or belting out tunes at karaoke nights," an ABC press release read. "As the Bachelor, Ellis is eager to embark on a journey filled with romance, adventure, and genuine connections. He hopes to find a partner who shares his values of loyalty, humor and a deep appreciation for life’s simple pleasures.”
He said in a video recorded for Good Morning America that he’s looking for a love who’s “kind and understanding” as well as someone who’s adventurous and affectionate.
What’s the big deal about the announcement?
Well, it’s early — and with less fanfare than usual.
ABC rarely announces the next lead in the middle of a season, often timing it to the “After the Final Rose” special following the finale. Entertainment Weekly’s Kristen Baldwin, who has long been covering the franchise, was caught off guard, writing, “I don't recall a Bachelor ever being announced while his season of The Bachelorette was still airing.”
Further, usually there’s an interview tie-in on the network’s Good Morning America. There wasn’t this time, which left some fans feeling that Ellis was short-changed. The recording he made for GMA seemed low-quality and last-minute.
Additionally, the announcement dropped before many viewers learned he had been eliminated on The Bachelorette. The show airs on ABC on Monday nights and Hulu the next day, so Hulu watchers felt the announcement was a spoiler.
This isn't the earliest a new lead has been announced, a show insider tells Yahoo Entertainment.
Robert Mills, the VP of alternative series at ABC Studios, wrote on X that there was a reason for speeding up the announcement: to give viewers following him on The Bachelorette time to apply.
We are announcing Grant so quickly so people can still apply to be on his season. If you think Grant is potentially the man of your dreams or you know someone who is apply ASAP!!! #TheBachelor
— Robert Mills (@Millsy11374) August 13, 2024
On Aug. 13, Mills said that they’d already been flooded with applications.
The decision follows criticism that the show casts for the series, not for the specific lead. Typically, casting is underway before the lead is announced at the end of the series — and there’s little time before production begins. Announcing it earlier would, in theory, would generate candidates who are interested in dating Ellis versus interested in appearing on the show.
Yahoo Entertainment contacted ABC for more information about the early announcement and will update this story if we hear back.
There’s been a lot of conversation around the casting of Tran’s season. As Sam McKinney exited the show in Week 6, he said Tran wasn’t his type and he thought he was applying to court Maria Georgas or Daisy Kent, who both said they were offered the gig before Tran.
Tran herself expressed disappointment in how her season was cast. Some of it was tied to a lack of diversity — which the franchise has long struggled with — as the first Asian American lead on The Bachelorette.
“I can’t really speak to the casting process and the decisions that were made, but it is unfortunate that there weren’t a lot of Asian men this season,” Tran, who is Vietnamese, told Glamour in an interview before her season’s premiere.
She talked about connecting with Thomas N. over their shared heritage, saying, “It’s not every day that you get to bond with somebody on your immigrant parents and you get to connect with somebody on that level because not everybody can understand that. … That conversation … really meant the world.” (He exited during Week 4.)
Screenrant’s Lorianne Palinkas is one of the journalists who has criticized the franchise over casting. “The lack of Asian American representation in the cast," she wrote, "proves that the producers don't have [Tran’s] best interests at heart.”
During the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour in February, executive producers for The Bachelor defended the casting of the show, saying that it had become more diverse in recent years and that they’re continuing to improve the process.
As for the near absence of Asian American contestants on Tran’s season, Bennett Graebner said, “That’s on us. We didn’t do what we needed to do,” according to the Los Angeles Times. Graebner and Claire Freeland also called it a “priority” to cast a Black Bachelor, who we now know is Ellis, also acknowledging mistakes during James’s season.
When will Ellis’s The Bachelor air?
Ellis’s season — perhaps with better casting — is set to premiere in 2025.
Right now, Tran is winding down her run at The Bachelorette, which is set to conclude in September. That month, the Golden Bachelorette, with Joan Vassos, premieres on Sept. 18.
While there was no Bachelor in Paradise in 2024, it’s coming back in 2025.
