Casting and contestants On September 14, 2022, it was reported that Shallcross was the frontrunner for the role. He was officially announced on September 20, 2022, during the live
The Bachelorette season 19 finale. Shallcross then met his first five contestants, Bailey, Brianna, Brooklyn, Cat, and Christina. Notable contestants include Christina Mandrell, who is the niece of country music singer
Barbara Mandrell;
Miss South Carolina 2018 Davia Bunch;
Miss Florida World 2019 Lekha Ravi; and Ariel Frenkel, who is the ex-girlfriend of actor
Michael Vlamis.
Filming and development The season was delayed by three weeks from its standard first week of January start, to avoid a potential clash with ABC's coverage of
Monday Night Football. Filming began on September 26, 2022, in
Agoura Hills, California. On October 22, the show was seen filming in
Tallinn, Estonia. This season also includes visits to
The Bahamas;
London, England; and
Budapest, Hungary, with filming concluding in
Krabi, Thailand in mid-November. Rapper
Latto, former contestants Courtney Robertson and Victoria Fuller, retired
NFL players
Shawne Merriman and
Antonio Gates, and band
UB40 made guest appearances this season. While filming in London, Shallcross tested positive to
COVID-19 and was forced to self-isolate in a hotel quarantine. All of the remaining dates got cancelled and both the cocktail party and rose ceremony shifted into a remote format with simulcast via
Zoom. This had previously occurred on the
eighth season of
The Bachelor Australia. After arriving in Estonia, contestant Greer Blitzer also received a positive Covid test. Unlike
The Bachelorette 19, where contestant Logan Palmer was eliminated after testing positive, Blitzer remained in isolation until she returned a negative result the following week. == Contestants ==