The Bachelor (American season 25)

The 25th season of The Bachelor premiered on January 4, 2021.[1] This season features 28-year-old Matt James, a real estate broker and charity founder from Raleigh, North Carolina.[2]

The Bachelor
Season 25
Promotional poster
Starring	Matt James
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	5
Release
Original network	ABC
Original release	January 4, 2021 – present
Season chronology

James was originally cast on the sixteenth season of The Bachelorette featuring Clare Crawley. However, after filming was delayed due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, he was instead selected to be The Bachelor. James is the first black male lead in The Bachelor franchise.[3]

Filming and development

Casting and contestants

On June 12, 2020, James was announced as the next Bachelor on Good Morning America.[2] James is the first black Bachelor in franchise history,[3] and while it was intended and announced as the second African-American lead (after Rachel Lindsay of The Bachelorette 13), the sudden introduction of Tayshia Adams as a co-lead on The Bachelorette 16, made James the third African-American lead of the franchise. He is also the first lead to have not previously appeared on a series in The Bachelor franchise since Matt Grant in season 12.[lower-alpha 1]

Notable contestants include Mariela "Mari" Pepin, Miss Maryland USA 2019 and top 10 finalist in Miss USA 2019; Kit Keenan, daughter of fashion designer Cynthia Rowley; Sydney Johnson, daughter of former New York Giants running backs coach and current University of Maryland analyst Craig Johnson; Abigail Heringer, the first deaf contestant in The Bachelor franchise; and Catalina Morales, who was crowned Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2015 and competed at Miss Universe 2015.[4][5][6][7][8]

Production

Much like in the sixteenth season of The Bachelorette, the season was filmed entirely at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, Pennsylvania, 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh due to quarantine safety protocols. Making this was the first The Bachelor season not to film in the traditional Villa de la Vina mansion in Agoura Hills, California, and the first location other than the mansion since season 11.[9]

Contestants

43 potential contestants were revealed on October 5, 2020.[10] On December 11, 2020, the final cast of 32 women was revealed.[11] On January 22, 2021, five new women joined the cast, bringing the total number of contestants to 37.[12]

Name	Age	Hometown	Occupation	Outcome	Place	Ref
Abigail Heringer[7][13]	25	Salem, Oregon	Client Financial Manager	Participating
Bri Springs[14][15]	24	San Antonio, Texas	Communications Manager
Brittany Galvin	23	Chicago, Illinois	Model
Chelsea Vaughn[16]	29	Marietta, Georgia	Runway Model
Jessenia Cruz[14]	27	El Paso, Texas	Social Media Marketer
Katie Thurston[17][18]	29	Lynnwood, Washington	Bank Marketing Manager
Kit Keenan[5]	21	New York, New York	Fashion Entrepreneur
Mearg "Magi" Tareke[19]	32	Washington, D.C.	Pharmacist
Michelle Young	27	Edina, Minnesota	Teacher
Meredith "MJ" Snyder[20]	23	Hudson, Ohio	Hairstylist
Pieper James[13]	23	Happy Valley, Oregon	Graduate Student
Rachael Kirkconnell	24	Cumming, Georgia	Graphic Designer
Ryan Claytor	26	Brooklyn, New York	Dancer/Choreographer
Serena Chew[21]	24	San Bruno, California	Flight Attendant
Serena Pitt[17][22]	22	Markham, Ontario	Publicist
Catalina Morales	29	New York, New York	Former Miss Universe Puerto Rico	Week 4	16–19	[23]
Lauren Maddox[24]	29	Miami, Florida	Corporate Attorney
Mariela "Mari" Pepin[4][25]	24	Severn, Maryland	Marketing Director
Victoria Larson[26]	27	Los Angeles, California	Queen
Anna Redman[27][28]	24	Owatonna, Minnesota	Copywriter		20
Kaili Anderson[28]	26	Chicago, Illinois	Hostess	Week 3	21–23	[29]
Khaylah Epps[30]	28	Durham, North Carolina	Healthcare Advocate
Kimberly "Kim" Li	28	Los Angeles, California	ICU Nurse
Sarah Trott[31]	24	San Diego, California	Broadcast Journalist		24 (quit)	[32]
Alana Milne[14]	26	San Antonio, Texas	Photographer	Week 2	25–29
Illeana Pennetto	25	South Salem, New York	Health Food Developer
Kristin Hopkins[33]	27	Virginia Beach, Virginia	Attorney
Marylynn Sienna[34]	28	Huntington Beach, California	Event Coordinator
Sydney Johnson[6]	28	Franklin, Tennessee	Marketing Specialist
Alicia Holloway[35]	24	Morgantown, West Virginia	Professional Ballerina	Week 1	30–37	[36]
Amber Andrews[34]	30	Rialto, California	Nursing Student
Carolyn Vallejo[34]	30	Newburyport, Massachusetts	Journalist
Casandra Suarez[34]	25	Lodi, California	Social Worker
Corrinne Jones[37]	22	Pomfret, Connecticut	Marketing Manager
Emani Curl[38]	25	Albuquerque, New Mexico	Realtor
Kimberly Courneya[18]	28	Lake Tapps, Washington	Airline Recruiter
Saneh Ste. Claire[39]	25	St. Augustine, Florida	IT Consultant

Call-out order

Order	Bachelorettes	Episode / Week
		1	2/3	3/4	4/5	5/6
1	Bri	Abigail	Bri	Rachael	Bri	Rachael
2	Rachael	Bri	Lauren	Serena P.	Michelle	Abigail
3	Sarah	Rachael	Sarah	Chelsea	Pieper[lower-alpha 2]	Kit
4	Jessenia	Chelsea	Pieper	MJ	Brittany
5	Chelsea	Sarah	Kit	Pieper	Ryan
6	Mari	MJ	Magi	Bri	Rachael
7	Magi	Serena P.	Rachael	Magi	Serena P.
8	Carolyn	Khaylah	Abigail	Michelle	Magi
9	Sydney	Kristin	Chelsea	Mari	Kit
10	Kristin	Kit	Jessenia	Ryan	MJ
11	Anna	Magi	Katie	Kit	Jessenia
12	Khaylah	Pieper	Serena C.	Serena C.	Katie
13	Serena C.	Mari	Serena P.	Abigail	Abigail
14	Serena P.	Illeana	Khaylah	Katie	Chelsea
15	Alicia	Jessenia	Mari	Victoria	Serena C.
16	Saneh	Kaili	MJ	Lauren	Catalina Lauren Mari Victoria
17	Alana	Marylynn	Anna	Brittany
18	Kaili	Serena C.	Kaili	Jessenia
19	Abigail	Lauren	Victoria	Anna
20	Corrinne	Sydney	Alana Illeana Kristin Marylynn Sydney	Catalina	Anna
21	Marylynn	Alana		Kaili Khaylah Kim
22	Emani	Katie
23	Lauren	Anna
24	Pieper	Victoria		Sarah
25	MJ	Alicia Amber Carolyn Casandra Corrinne Emani Kimberly Saneh
26	Katie
27	Amber
28	Kimberly
29	Casandra
30	Illeana
31	Kit
32	Victoria
33	Brittany[lower-alpha 3]
34	Michelle[lower-alpha 3]
35	Ryan[lower-alpha 3]
36	Kim[lower-alpha 3]
37	Catalina[lower-alpha 3]

  The contestant received a first impression rose

  The contestant received a rose during the date

  The contestant was eliminated

  The contestant was eliminated outside the rose ceremony

  The contestant quit the competition

  The contestant won the competition

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original air date [40]	Prod. code [40]	U.S. viewers (millions)	Rating (18–49)
252	1	"Week 1: Season 25 Premiere"	January 4, 2021	2501	5.23[41]	1.3[41]
253	2	"Week 2"	January 11, 2021	2502	4.74[42]	1.2[42]
254	3	"Week 3"	January 18, 2021	2503	5.00[43]	1.4[43]
255	4	"Week 4"	January 25, 2021	2504	5.25[44]	1.5[44]
256	5	"Week 5"	February 1, 2021	2505	5.49[45]	1.5[45]
257	6	"Week 6"	February 8, 2021	2506	TBD	TBA
258	7	"Week 7"	February 15, 2021	2507	TBD	TBA
259	8	"Week 8"	February 22, 2021	2508	TBD	TBA

Notes

1. Brad Womack, who had served as lead for season 15, had not appeared on a season of The Bachelorette either, but had previously appeared on the show as the lead in season 11.
2. Pieper had the rose from the second group date. The segment of the date when Matt gave the rose to her and her rose ceremony appearance were both unaired.
3. Brittany, Catalina, Kim, Michelle, and Ryan all entered the competition in Week 3.

References

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External links

• Official website