Who Is the Next Bachelor? Here Are All the Top Contenders—Including the Contestant Who Turned It Down

Now that The Bachelorette is almost over, Bachelor Nation wants to know: Who is next Bachelor for 2023? The next Bachelor will be the lead of The Bachelor season 27 and follow in the footsteps of the most recent past Bachelors: Clayton Echard (season 26), Matt James (season 25) and Peter Weber (season 24.)

The Bachelor season 27 will also follow The Bachelorette season 19, which was the first Bachelorette season to feature two full-time Bachelorettes: Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight in September 2022, Gabby and Rachel voiced their support for two Bachelors for season 27. “We loved each other for it, and loved having one another by one another’s side,” Gabby said of her relationship with Rachel. “I don’t know if men would feel the same, it depends on their relationship, but I think there’s a lot of good to come out of our season.” Rachel added, “I think ultimately if the Bachelors supported each other and loved each other to the extent that Gabby and I do, it could be incredible as well, but they would definitely have to be on the same level as us. Lots to live up to, of course!”

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Mario Vassall, a contestant from The Bachelorette season 19, however, was against the idea and told Entertainment Tonight that ABC should “absolutely not” have two Bachelors. Tyler Norris, another contestant from The Bachelorette season 19, also didn’t support having two Bachelors. “I think watching back the two Bachelorette thing was a lot,” Tyler said. “Having two Bachelors would be the same thing. I think they should stick to one.” Host Jesse Palmer, for his part, joked that Pete Davidson—who is known for dating celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Ariana Grande and Kaia Gerber—should be the next Bachelor. “Are we still saying Pete Davidson? Is that still a choice?” Jesse said. “… I wanna ride that train. Wanna talk about a wild Bachelor season? That would probably be it. We might have to change some of our parameters.”

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So who is the next Bachelor for 2023? Read on for what we know about the next Bachelor for 2023 and who the lead will be for The Bachelor season 27. There’s more than one contender.

Who is the next Bachelor for 2023?

“The Bachelorette” 2022 Cast

SPOILERS. Who is the next Bachelor for 2023? Read on for who could be the lead of The Bachelor season 27, including the contestant who turned the role down.

Nate Mitchell

Nate, “The Bachelorette” 2022

Original season: The Bachelorette season 19; Gabby Windey & Rachel Recchia

Nate Mitchell is a 33-year-old electrical engineer from Carrier Mills, Illinois. He was a contestant on The Bachelorette season 19 with Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia, where he was Gabby’s contestant and was eliminated in sixth place.Reality Steve confirmed on his podcast in September 2022 that Nate was offered to become the season 27 Bachelor but declined. “In regards to the Bachelor, obviously we’re about three weeks away from any announcement being made, I’m assuming it’s going to be made on the After the Final Rose, if not, within a day or two of that on GMA like they usually do. But after poking around a little bit, asking around, what I can tell you is: I don’t know who the Bachelor’s going to be, but you can cross Nate off the list. I have heard it is not him,” Reality Steve said. “I usually can’t get any details to stuff like that. I have heard, I have no idea if it’s true or not, but I have heard he rejected it, he doesn’t want to do it.” A source also confirmed to E! News in August 2022 that Nate was the frontrunner to become the next Bachelor.

Reality Steve’s report came after Nate was photographed holding hands with a woman at a grocery store in Chicago, Illinois, in August 2022, weeks after he cried over his breakup with Gabby on The Bachelorette season 19 “Men Tell All” special. “Spotted Nate and another girl in Chicago today,” an anonymous source sent to the Instagram account @bachelorettewindmill along with a photo. “They were both holding hands so could be dating?”

While Nate isn’t the Bachelor 2023, Gabby told Entertainment Tonight in August 2022 that he was her number-one choice as the next lead. “Nate. 100 percent Nate, Nate, Nate!” she said. “He knows how to treat women. He’s so smart, he’s old, he has a great job, he spends his time reading—not reading social media, reading actual books. He has a daughter, so he knows what it’s like to have responsibility. He’s a real, true definition of a man.”

Rachel told Entertainment Tonight that Nate was also her choice for the next Bachelor, along with The Bachelorette season 19 contetant Tyler Norris. “From Gabby’s side I would say Nate, [he’s] incredible, and from my side, maybe Tyler. Who knows?” Rachel said. “They really couldn’t go wrong.” Mario Vassall, another contestant from The Bachelorette season 19, also voted Nate as the season 27 Bachelor. “Nate, his name comes to mind… Nate is a fun, standup guy,” he said. Tyler was another contestant who chose Nate as the next Bachelor. “My man, Nate, he’s the sweetest, most genuine guy. I would love to see him. He brings flair too… My man would do a great job,” he said. Host Jesse Palmer also supported for Nate as the next Bachelor. “Nate is a standup guy. He’s an amazing person. He’s mature, he has an incredible emotional maturity, he’s vulnerable, he respects women, and he’s a great dad,” Jesse said. “I there’s there’s very few negative things I can say about Nate.”

Reality Steve’s report that Nate turned down the offer to become the next Bachelor comes after Nate’s Nate’s alleged ex-girlfriend, Kelsey Fankhauser, in July 2022, where she claimed that he cheated on her and hid his daughter from her throughout their one-and-a-half-year relationship. “I cried for a guy who kept his kid a secret from me for 1.5 years when we were dating and I found out on reality TV,” Kelsea wrote. She captioned the post, “Shame on me.”

After the TikTok, Reality Steve shared a blog post, where he talked to two of Nate’s alleged ex-girlfriends. In the post, Reality Steve shared a direct message from someone who claimed to be friends with Nate’s ex-girlfriend. “Hey Steve!!! Just saw that Nate Mitchell is in the running … . Would love to put you in contact with one of my friends who dated him if he moves on … . He is such a bad guy,” the message read. Reality Steve also talked to Kelsey, who shared the timeline of her and Nate’s relationship. A year into their relationship, Kelsey claimed that one his friends told her she had hooked up with Nate two weeks prior and that Nate had cheated on her. Two months later, Nate allegedly went to Atlanta, Georgia, where he met a woman named Laree Starke on Tinder and went on a Valentine’s Day date with her. Eight days after Nate’s Valentine’s Day date with Laree, Kelsey had a Valentine’s Day date with Nate. In August 2021, about a year and a half into her relationship with Nate, Kelsey claimed Laree sent her a direct message, telling her about Nate’s affair.

“You don’t know me…and I wanted to originally reach out to you earlier this year…” Laree’s alleged message read. “Nate and I were dating pretty heavily early this year (he through the L word at me and everything) but one of his good friends got confused when I came into the picture, and shared me your Instagram… that is when I discovered you… and that he had lied about me being the only girl he was dating… I was so hurt by his lies and he tried to make it seem like you too were nothing serious… but im thinking i don’t believe that at all… things ended and i was sad and angry about all the lies and the love bombing he did…” The message continued, “but I let that go and moved on and enjoyed my summer… and ended up meeting the perfect man for me…with a beautiful heart… i say all this to say what my momma always told me… rejection is protection… sometimes God pulls people out of our lives because he doesn’t want that for us he has someone better and the quicker we understand that the quicker we can heal heart…”

When Kelsey asked Nate who Laree was, he responded, “Nobody, why?” When Kelsey continued to question Nate about Laree, he responded, “Talked to her around the beginning of the year but when we got serious I stopped talking to her. That’s why I said nobody. N no I wasn’t in love with her and no we never hooked up which is why I said nobody.” Kelsey also claimed that she learned from Laree that Nate was previously married and didn’t finalize his divorce until December 2020 after he and Kelsey had started dating.

Nate, for his part, responded to the rumors in an Instagram comment in August 2022 when a fan commented, “why you playing girls?” Nate wrote back, “Two sides to every story 🙏 wish u the best.”

Nate was asked about the rumors at the Men Tell All, where he confessed that his divorce was messy and that he didn’t want to tell Laree and Kelsey about his daughter because he wanted to protect her. “He did say he could’ve been better at communicating with them, he was still feeling his way into the dating scene, he wants to do better and apologized, but he never says exclusivity conversations took place with either of them,” Reality Steve reported. When Gabby and Rachel were asked about the rumors later in the Men Tell All, which didn’t air, Gabby said that she only knew how Nate treated her, which was with respect. The other Bachelorette 2022 contestants also defended Nate by claiming that everyone has a past and he’s grown from his mistakes.

Tyler Norris

Tyler, “The Bachelorette” 2022

Original season: The Bachelorette season 19; Gabby Windey & Rachel Recchia

Tyler Norris is a 25-year-old small business owner from Wildwood, New Jersey. He was a contestant on The Bachelorette season 19 with Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia, where he was Rachel’s contestant and was eliminated in fourth place. According to Reality Steve, Tyler is a contestant on Bachelor in Paradise season 8, where he ends up with Brittany Galvin, a contestant from The Bachelor season 25. Reality Steve reported that Tyler came in after Rose Ceremony #2 as part of a twist similar to Casa Amor in Love Island, where the men and women were separated from their couples and taken to new beaches for one day, where they date five new contestants to test their original relationships. Because of Tyler’s relationship with Brittany, it’s assumed that he isn’t single and won’t be the next Bachelor for 2023.

While Tyler may not be the next Bachelor, Rachel voted him as one of her season 27 Bachelor picks in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “From Gabby’s side I would say Nate, [he’s] incredible, and from my side, maybe Tyler. Who knows?” Rachel said. “They really couldn’t go wrong.” Mario Vassall, another contestant from The Bachelorette season 19, also supported Tyler as the next Bachelor. “… I’m a big fan of Tyler Norris. We saw his breakup with Rachel. That was tough to watch. [I’m a] big fan of him, his character. He wears his heart of his sleeve. I wouldn’t be mad if he took that position,” he said.

Tyler, for his part, told Entertainment Tonight that he isn’t interested in becoming the season 27 Bachelor. “I couldn’t even imagine dating two women at the same time, let alone 30-something women, but then again, you can’t take anything out of the card,” Tyler also explained to E! News about his concerns over becoming the next Bachelor. “I would definitely say that it’s very hard to navigate,” Tyler said. “With 30-something women there, it would definitely be a tough job to have, without hurting somebody at the end of the day. [But] if it gets me a stop closer to ultimately finding love then absolutely I would do it.”

Zach Shallcross

Zach, “The Bachelorette” 2022

Original season: The Bachelorette season 19; Gabby Windey & Rachel Recchia

Zach Shallcross is a 25-year-old tech executive from Anaheim Hills, California. He was a contestant on The Bachelorette season 19 with Gabby Winey and Rachel Recchia, where he was Rachel’s contestant and self-eliminated in third place. According to Reality Steve, Zach is the one contestant from The Bachelorette season 19 that he can see being the next Bachelor considering Nate Mitchell turned down the role. “It means we’re moving on to somebody else. I don’t know who from this season outside of maybe Zach,” Reality Steve wrote in a blog post in September 2022. 

Ethan Kang

Ethan, “The Bachelorette” 2022

Original season: The Bachelorette season 19; Gabby Windey & Rachel Recchia

Ethan Kang is a 27-year-old advertising executive from Greenwood Village, Colorado. He was a contestant on The Bachelorette season 19 with Gabby Winey and Rachel Recchia, where he was Rachel’s contestant and was eliminated in fifth place.

After Ethan was eliminated, there was a campaign from fans and celebrities for him to become the next Bachelor. “Make this man the Bachelor!! @ethankang1” Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings actor Simu Liu posted in an Instagram Story in August 2022 that Ethan reposted. In an interview on the “Clickbait” podcast at the time, Ethan called Liu’s post “the biggest endorsement I could ever ask for.” In 2014, seven years before Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings premiered, Liu tweeted Marvel Studios asking them to make a movie about an Asian-American superhero. “Hey @Marvel , great job with Cpt America and Thor. Now how about an Asian American hero?” he tweeted at the time.

In August 2022, Ethan tweeted Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss with a similar tweet, asking Fleiss to make him the first Asian-American Bachelor. “@fleissmeister If @SimuLiu can manifest becoming the first Marvel Superhero then how about the first Asian Bachelor? What we thinkin? #manifest #TheBachelorette #BachelorNation I’m a man of the people,” Ethan wrote. When asked by the “Clickbait” podcast about if he would consider becoming The Bachelor, Ethan confirmed that he would consider the role.  “Yeah, of course,” Kang told Clickbait. “I mean, who doesn’t want their shot at 30 beautiful (women)? They haven’t had an Asian bachelor yet or an Asian bachelorette, as far as I’m concerned. So who knows? That would be pretty cool,” he said. He added, “People are stirring up a storm on Twitter and Reddit.”

He continued, “I’m going to wear it with pride. I’m going to do my best to represent the Asian community, and I think that’s something that I could do…A lot of times in Western media today, Asians are kind of represented as the quieter, shier, nerdier doctor roles. … For that to be a role that I could potentially take on and have that first Asian love story on TV in arguably the biggest reality love show, yeah, that would be huge.”

Ethan also called out the Bachelor franchise for its lack of diversity after his elimination in August 2022. “As a Korean-American man I want to say how truly honored I am to be the first full Asian-American to make it this far on The Bachelorette. With that said, why has it taken this damn long?” he wrote in an Instagram post at the time. “As the only Asian male this season, it made me think: where’s the Asian representation? @bachelornation I believe love should never be discriminated by shape, color, creed, or sexual orientation!”

In August 2019, “The Blckchelorettes” podcast hosts, Victoria Price and Mikayla Bartholomew, wrote a post that supported Ethan as the Bachelor. The hosts called the posts “letter (that) operates as a call in, not call out, about a clear opportunity to support, uplift, amplify new narratives, new experiences, and different people.” The post continued, “How many more days (shoutout Game of Roses) will we go without ever having seen an Asian bachelor? When will we start really reimagining the kinds of narratives we amplify?” The hosts added, “Stereotypical portrayals and storylines … that reduce (AAPI people) to tropes, villains, ‘model minorities,’ mere tokens, hypersexualized or desexualized, of one whitewashed tone and not around for long, have been just about all this franchise has offered us as an audience. Ethan Kang has shifted that dramatically.”

Though there’s been a campaign for Ethan to become the lead of The Bachelor season 27, Reality Steve wrote in a blog post in September 2022 that he doesn’t see Ethan becoming the next Bachelor based on his reporting. Reality Steve also noted that he also didn’t see The Bachelorette season 19 contestants Aven Jones, Logan Palmer, Spencer Swies and Jason Alabaster becoming the the next Bachelor. “I don’t see it being Aven. I don’t see it being Logan. I don’t see it being Ethan. I don’t see it being Spencer. I don’t see it being Jason,” Reality Steve said. 

Other season 19 Bachelorette contestants not in the running to be the Bachelor 2023 are: Johnny DePhilippo (who gets engaged to season 24 Bachelor contestant Victoria Fuller on Bachelor in Paradise season 8), Erich Schwer (who is Gabby’s Bachelorette season 19 winner), and Tino Franco (who is Rachel’s Bachelorette season 19 winner.) Other Bachelor Nation alums who aren’t in the running to be the next Bachelor are The Bachelorette season 17 contestant Michael Allio (who ends up with season 21 Bachelor contestant Danielle Maltby on Bachelor in Paradise season 8) and The Bachelorette season 18 contestant Brandon Jones (who ends up with season 26 Bachelor contestant Serene Russell on Bachelor in Paradise season 8.)

“The Bachelorette” 2022 Gabby

Who is The Bachelorette 2022, Gabby Windey? The Bachelorette season 19 leads are Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia from The Bachelor season 26 with Clayton Echard. Gabby is a 31-year-old ICU nurse from O’Fallon, Illinois, who currently lives in Denver, Colorado. Her Instagram handle is @gabriela.windey. She was eliminated in the final three after Clayton chose Susie Evans—whom he eliminated the episode before but invited back to the show—as his winner, sending home both Gabby and Rachel. “I actually don’t know who you are at all. “I’m pissed because I spent the last two months away from my friends and family who actually give a shit about me, and you don’t,” Gabby told Clayton after he eliminated her. She continued, “You asked me to stay because you were pissed because Susie left and your pride was hurt.” She also added during the “After the Final Rose” special, “Watching it back, everything is so muddled, and you are clearly pitting us against each other. It really seems like a competition, which I had expressed to you that I didn’t want to be a part of.”

So who is The Bachelorette 2022, Gabby Windey? Gabby listed her job on The Bachelor as an “ICU Nurse.” Gabby also worked as a registered nurse in the medical ICU at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, according to her Linkedin.  In an interview with The Athletic in 2020, Gabby opened up about what it’s like to work on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re all leaning on each other, and it really becomes a new normal kind of fast,” she said. “All of health care is ever-changing because we’re always trying to make sure we’re doing things the best way, which comes with evidence-based practice and re-evaluating the way we’re doing things. So we are used to change. But it is hard and, of course, this is different because of the seriousness of it and how many people it’s affecting.”

She continued, “There is always kind of a thought and worry of working so close to it, there’s obviously a risk of transmission. But we have the suitable PPE and have been trained extensively how to take it on and off carefully so we don’t give it to ourselves while we’re taking it off. You have to be vigilant and you have to pay attention to what you’re doing at all times. “I haven’t had to reuse any other PPE, but putting it out there early on that we need to not be wasteful has really helped us now.”

Along with her job as an ICU nurse, Gabby is also a cheerleader for the Denver Broncos. In 2021, Gabby, who’s been cheering for the Denver Broncos since 2016, became the first woman to receive the Pop Warner Humanitarian Award, an honor usually given to football players. “Windey is the first female and NFL cheerleader in the history of the award, which has traditionally been awarded to NFL players,” Pop Warner Little Scholars said in a press release. (Kansas City Chiefs lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif also received the honor.) “Both Windey and Duvarney-Tardif’s selflessness and commitment to helping others are an embodiment of sacrifice and teamwork, making them model representatives for young student-athletes across the nation.”

In her Bachelor bio, Gabby described her dream man as someone who has a “quiet confidence.” “Gabby is much more than meets the eye. Not only is she beautiful, but she also has a lot of substance, emotional depth and a wealth of lived experiences,” her bio read. “Gabby is looking for a man with quiet confidence. She doesn’t have a physical type but says that if he doesn’t have a personality, then it’s a hard pass. Her ideal man will challenge her, communicate his feelings and work hard to equally carry the weight of the relationship.”

Her bio continued, “The one nonnegotiable for Gabby? Whatever man captures Gabby’s heart must also have room in their life for her four-legged friend because she and her goldendoodle Leonardo are a package deal. While Gabby would love to find a man, she isn’t the type to lose herself in a relationship. She’s hoping to find a man who will love her for the independent woman she is.”

For her fun facts, Gabby listed the following:

• Gabby is terrified of humpback whales but would love to see one in person from a safe distance.

• Gabby loves to write cards.

• Stomping grapes in Italy is at the top of Gabby’s bucket list.

Clayton also wasn’t Gabby’s first Bachelor Nation relationship. Gabby is the ex-girlfriend of both Dean Unglert from The Bachelorette season 13 with Rachel Lindsay and Blake Horstmann from The Bachelorette season 14 with Becca Kufrin. Dean, who also starred on Bachelor in Paradise season 5 and 6, confirmed the relationship on an episode of his “Help! I Suck at Dating” podcast in October 2021. “She was, like, one of the main exes. She was my girlfriend from college,” he said. “Producers called me and were like, ‘Hey, we’re thinking of casting this person — what do you think of her? We know that you dated 10 years ago.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, she’s great. If she gets selected for the show, she’ll either win the show or she’ll be the next Bachelorette.’ And I firmly believe that.”

Blake, who was also on Bachelor in Paradise season 6, also confirmed that he dated Gabby for a “couple months” on an episode of the “Behind the Rose” podcast in October 2021. “We like the same girls, man. I didn’t know Dean until obviously, like, 2018, but Gabby was a good friend of one of my very good friends from college, they were roommates,” he said. “I met Gabby long before I was on The Bachelorette, like, I want to say maybe 2015 or 2016. We hung out for a little bit, so I know her very well. And Dean, I don’t know how it came up, but one time, me and Dean were sitting there — I think we were in Buffalo, and he mentioned Gabby — and I was like, ‘How do you know Gabby?’ And he was like, ‘Dude, she was, like, my girl in college, you know, we were in love and blah blah.’”

He continued, “She’s fun. She has a very outgoing personality, very loud, like, when she walks into a room, you know she’s in a room. You never know if the lead is going to be into something like that. You never know if they like the more shy, quiet type or they like the loud, outgoing type, but she’s definitely very loud, very outgoing, she has a lot of friends. So if Clayton’s into that, I see her getting hometowns, for sure. She’s a beautiful woman. … They’re gonna have the football player, cheerleader story line.”

In an interview on the “Talking It Out With Bachelor Nation” podcast in January 2022, Gabby claimed that she and Blake “hung out for a little” but weren’t ever in an official relationship. “Blake and I had mutual friends,” Gabby said, noting that they met after she graduated from college in 2014. “We never actually went on a date. There was no drinks paid for. No dinner paid for. [Blake’s] saying we dated… He’s definitely friends of friends. You know, we had spent time together and stuff but definitely no, like, official dating, like, no really kind of formal, no exclusivity and again, it was a really long time ago.”

She called Dean, however, one of her “first loves.” “It was just so long ago,” she said. “It’s a distant past from my experience on ‘The Bachelor’ and you know, Clayton [Echard] and I’s story, it’s very much its own thing. I’m always really grateful that it was so far in the past, so I could focus more on Clayton and kind of separate [that].”

“The Bachelorette” 2022 Rachel

Who is The Bachelorette 2022, Rachel Recchia? The Bachelorette season 19 leads are Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey from The Bachelor season 26 with Clayton Echard. Rachel is a 26-year-old flight instructor from Clermont, Florida, near Orlando. Her Instagram handle is @pilot.rachel. She was eliminated in the final three after Clayton chose Susie Evans—whom he eliminated the episode before but invited back to the show—as his winner, sending home both Rachel and Gabby. During the “After the Final Rose” special, Gabby accused Clayton of never actually loving her because of the “disrespect” he showed her and Gabby and how he eliminated them with a “group breakup.” “It was almost as if you cast us aside as quickly as you could to [get to] the person you loved the most,” she said. Rachel also asked Clayton if he told her he loved her so he could sleep with her. “You told me that I was the first person that you said ‘I love you’ to in six years. I had no reason to ever doubt you,” she said. “So did you tell me that you were in love with me because you wanted to sleep with me?” Clayton denied this.

So who is The Bachelorette 2022, Rachel Recchia? Rachel listed her job on The Bachelor as a “Flight Instructor.” Her Instagram bio also lists her job as a pilot, as well as her Instagram handle @pilot.rachel. According to her Instagram, Rachel has flown in locations like Columbus, Ohio; Athens, Ohio; Springfield, Missouri; and Lakeland, Florida. She was also attended Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, where she was a cheerleader.

In her Bachelor bio, Rachel described herself as a “hopeless romantic” who is looking for someone “nurturing, empathetic” and “respectful.” “Rachel is a fearless frequent flyer looking for a man who will travel the world with her,” her bio reads. “After recently earning her private pilot license, the future is nothing but sunny skies ahead for Rachel and now she is hoping to find a co-pilot that matches her sense of adventure. As a hopeless romantic, Rachel is looking for someone who is as playful, passionate and spontaneous as she is. He should be nurturing, empathetic and MUST be respectful in all facets of life – to her, to family, and especially to waiters. In the end, Rachel wants to find crazy, insane love that makes sense to no one else but her and her soul mate.”

For her fun facts, Rachel listed the following:

• Rachel could live off of Flaming Hot Cheetos.

• Rachel can’t wait to read the Harry Potter series with her kids one day.

• Rachel once organized a flash mob in high school

Jesse Palmer, “The Bachelor”

Who is The Bachelor 2023 host? The Bachelor season 27 host is Jesse Palmer, who was the season 5 Bachelor in 2004 and was the youngest Bachelor in Bachelor Nation history at 24 years old. Jesse hosted his first Bachelor franchise show in 2022 with The Bachelor season 26 with Clayton Echard. During The Bachelor season 5 finale, Jesse gave his Final Rose to Jessica Bowlin, but didn’t propose to her. Jesse and Jessica continued to date, but ended their relationship a few weeks after the finale of their Bachelor season aired. In June 2020, Jesse and his girlfriend, Emely Fardo, married in an intimate wedding in New York City. Jesse told Us Weekly in November 2021 that he and Emely planned to marry in Provence, France, before the current health crisis cancelled their wedding date. “We had originally planned a wedding in Provence, France, for summer 2020, which was postponed until summer of 2021 due to the pandemic, but we didn’t want to wait any longer,” he said at the time. “So, we had a small, private and intimate ceremony with close friends who lived in New York City.”

Jesse graduated from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played football for the Florida Gators, in 2001 with a bachelor’s of arts degree in political science and a bachelor’s of science degree in marketing. After graduation, Jesse was drafted by the National Football League to play for the New York Giants. He played with the team for four seasons from 2001 to 2005 as a quarterback. After the New York Giants, Jesse was drafted by the Canadian Football League to play for the Montreal Alouettes. He played with the team until 2005 when he was signed by the San Francisco 49ers. He then resigned with the Montreal Alouettes in 2006 before he retired from football in 2007 to pursue a broadcasting career. Since his broadcasting career started, Jesse has worked with networks like Fox, NFL Network, ESPN, ABC and SEC Network. He’s also guest starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and made guest appearances on shows like Recipe to Riches and Good Morning America, and hosted the Food Network’s Spring Baking Championship and Holiday Baking Championship.

Jesse was announced as The Bachelor season 26 host in September 2021. “For more than 20 years, The Bachelor has brought the world dozens of unforgettable love stories, including at one time, my own,” he said at the time. “Falling in love is one of life’s greatest gifts, and I am humbled by the opportunity to return to the show as host this season to offer the newest Bachelor advice gained from firsthand experience and I am grateful to play a small part in his journey.” The announcement came after Chris Harrison, the former host of Bachelor Nation, confirmed in June 2021 that he had retired as the franchise’s host after 19 years. “I’ve had a truly incredible run as host of The Bachelor franchise and now I’m excited to start a new chapter,” he wrote in an Instagram post at the time. “I’m so grateful to Bachelor Nation for all of the memories we’ve made together. While my two-decade journey is wrapping up, the friendships I’ve made will last a lifetime.”

Deadline reported at the time that Chris received a mid-range, eight-figure settlement as part of exit plan with ABC, the network that airs the Bachelor franchise, and Warner Bros. Television, the company that produces the Bachelor shows. The magazine also reported that Harrison’s settlement included a nondisclosure agreement. Chris’ decision to retire as Bachelor Nation’s host came after he was slammed for his response to season 25 Bachelor contestant Rachael Kirkconnell’s racism scandal in February 2021. Rachael, the winner of Matt James’ season, faced backlash at the time when photos resurfaced of her at an Old South Antebellum-themed party at Georgia College in 2018. Before the pictures went viral, Rachael was already under controversy after her former high school classmate accused her on TikTok of bullying her and other students for dating Black men. Other TikTok users then exposed Rachael for liking social media photos of her friends in culturally insensitive costumes and with Confederate flags.

Chris came under controversy after he was interviewed about the scandal by season 13 Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay on Extra. During the interview, Chris asked fans to give Rachael “grace” and explained that he didn’t find the Antebellum party photos offensive because they just looked like pictures a college student takes at a party. Harrison also questioned whether the photos would be considered racially insensitive in 2018 when they were taken. After the interview, many fans slammed Harrison and accused him of excusing Rachael’s behavior.

ABC confirmed in March 2021 that Chris wouldn’t host season 17 of The Bachelorette and would be replaced by Tayshia and Kaitlyn. “Chris Harrison will not be hosting the next season of The Bachelorette,” ABC said in a statement at the time. “We support Chris in the work that he is committed to doing. In his absence, former Bachelorettes Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe will support the new Bachelorette through next season. As we continue the dialogue around achieving greater equity and inclusion within The Bachelor franchise, we are dedicated to improving the BIPOC representation of our crew, including among the executive producer ranks. These are important steps in effecting fundamental change so that our franchise is a celebration of love that is reflective of our world.” He officially retired as the Bachelor Nation’s host in June 2021.

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“Bachelor Nation” by Amy Kaufman

Buy: ‘Bachelor Nation’ by Amy Kaufman $13.89

To get more of an inside scoop, check out Los Angeles Times writer Amy Kaufman’s book, Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure, for a deep dive into the Bachelor franchise. The book uncovers the secrets of Bachelor Nation, from how much the Bachelor and the Bachelorette are paid to the rules contestants have to follow, that producers don’t want fans to know. It’s a must-read for any Bachelor Nation member.

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