ABC/Craig Sjodin Matt James speaks with his contestants on 'The Bachelor.'
A new season of The Bachelor has arrived with a brand new face at the helm. For the first time since Matt Grant’s season in 2008, the lead of The Bachelor will be a man who didn’t previously compete on a season of The Bachelorette.
Matt James, 29, will take over as the show’s lead and make history in the process as the first Black man to ever head up The Bachelor.
Filming of the season began in September and wrapped in November, so the results of the show are already in the books — now we just have to wait and see how it plays out. But some details have already leaked out that may interest the extra curious.
Here’s what we know so far about what to expect on the premiere of season 25.
WARNING: IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ANY SPOILERS FROM ‘THE BACHELOR,’ EPISODE 1 DO NOT KEEP READING.
Abigail Heringer Earns the First Impression Rose
Heringer catching James’ eye and earning the First Impression Rose was one of the first spoilers to leak and its been all but confirmed by Chris Harrison himself, at this point. Way back in October, Reality Steve reported Heringer was the night one standout.
“I think you’re all going to really love Abigail, who — I will just say this — makes a very strong first impression on Matt,” Harrison said with a smirk when he announced the season 25 cast. “Abigail is one of our favorites. This is an absolute gem of a woman and impossible not to fall in love with. And speaking of historic moments, Abigail has an incredible story, she’s the first hearing impaired person we’ve ever had on the show. So an incredible story to tell. Just a beautiful, sincere, true definition of someone here for the right reasons.”
Heringer’s mother told the Salem Statesman Journal that both Abigail and her sister, Rachel, were born with congenital hearing loss. They each underwent surgery to receive cochlear implants at age 2.
“I was surprised she was willing to share her story about her hearing loss,” Suzie Heringer said. “It’s something she usually doesn’t talk much about… With her disability, if that can impact one other person, it’s worth sharing the story.”
The bad news for Heringer is that First Impression Rose recipients haven’t done well on The Bachelor. Since the rose was first created in season 10, only five First Impression Rose recipients have made it to the final. The only one of those five to receive the Final Rose was Hannah Ann Sluss; however, her relationship with Peter Weber didn’t survive the season finale.
Matt James Sends Home 8 on Night 1
Harrison has already confirmed reports that a handful of additional women will arrive and join the cast after the first episode. According to Reality Steve, a group of women — which includes season 23 contestant Heather Martin — will arrive after the second rose ceremony to try to join the cast.
But before that happens, James has to trim down his record-breaking number of contestants. That starts with eight women going home at the first rose ceremony.
In October, @bachdetective posted the names of eight women who were part of James’ “first round of cuts.” It said Carolyn Vallejo, Casandra Suarez, Corrinne Jones, Emani Curl, Kennedy Taylor, Kimberly Courneya, Marie Dolce, and Saneh Ste Clare would all be going home.
The only problem is that Kennedy Taylor and Marie Dolce didn’t make the final list of 32 contestants on the cast. Reality Steve also released a list of early cuts, although he wasn’t sure if they were night one eliminations — only that they didn’t last long. His list didn’t include Suarez, but did have seven other names: Alana Milne, Alicia Holloway, Amber Andrews, Illeana Pennetto, Khayla Epps, Kristin Hopkins, Sydney Johnson.
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