On Friday, The Bachelor announced the 32 women who will be fighting for Matt James’ heart. But according to Chris Harrison, they’re only some of the contestants who will appear on his season.
“There are 32 women… that’s how many arrive on Night One. That’s not how many we’ll end up with,” he tells ET’s Lauren Zima.
“A record number of women applied for Matt James … [it was] the biggest response we’ve had, and we wanted to give as many women as possible the chance to find love,” Chris explains. “So, we start with 32, but there will be more than those that arrive. And I can also give you this nugget — one woman who arrives is a very very familiar face to Bachelor Nation.”
Matt was announced as the next Bachelor in June, with his casting making him the first Black male lead in the franchise’s 18-year history. Though the 29-year-old had never appeared on The Bachelorette (he was initially supposed to be on Clare Crawley’s season), he was familiar to some of the show’s fans, as Tyler Cameron’s best friend.
Tyler and Matt quarantined together earlier this year — alongside Tyler’s ex, former Bachelorette Hannah Brown. So, is there any way she could be this mysterious “familiar face”?
“This is a woman who A, is single and B, hoping to find love with Matt James,” Chris teases.
The host also plays coy about just how these additional women are introduced — and if they could enter in stages throughout the season, as is done on Bachelor in Paradise.
“Look, this is 2020, there are no rules, anything goes,” he shares. “But in all seriousness, this goes back to we had a record number of people trying to get on this show and 32 wasn’t enough. We had so many we thought, ‘OK, let’s just try this. Let’s just get more and more.'”
“And then there was a single woman from our Bachelor family that wanted a shot to find love, and you’ll see it play out in a very different, interesting moment unlike anything we have seen before,” he adds.
As for the women who were announced on Friday, the group includes a model, a ballerina, a socialite and a “queen.” Harrison addressed some of the standouts.
“Queen Victoria is here and she’s here to rule,” Chris jokes. “I don’t know if you’re going to love her judgements, but you’re definitely going to appreciate Queen Victoria.”
“And then on the other side, you have some amazing women… Bri is a woman who left an unbelievably high paying tech job… to come find love with Matt James. You have a girl like Sarah, who — I don’t want to ruin her story — she is the caretaker of her family and she’s finally doing something for herself and here to find love,” he says. “So we have some incredible women to watch as well.”
Matt’s season of The Bachelorpremieres Monday, Jan. 4 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. In the meantime, Tayshia Adams’ journey as The Bachelorettecontinues, airing Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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