Matt James Is ABC’s ‘The Bachelor,’ Network Finally Casts First Black Male Lead

On Friday morning, ABC announced that it has picked Matt James to be The Bachelor this winter for Season 25. This move comes as a surprise on several fronts and will have fans of the franchise asking a lot of questions.

The big reveal came on Good Morning America and the show shared the clip of the announcement via their Twitter page. There has been a great deal of discussion over the past couple of years about the fact that ABC has never chosen a black male lead. In fact, many fans were outraged when Peter Weber was chosen over Mike Johnson last winter.

Now, ABC has picked Matt and announced it far earlier than would be typical, for some reason passing over Mike once more.

ABC Plans To Debut Matt’s Season In 2021

FIRST ON @GMA: The new @BachelorABC is Matt James.

Season 25 of “The Bachelor” is scheduled to premiere in 2021. https://t.co/c1NVcVkkpS #TheBachelor #BachelorNation pic.twitter.com/VEpDJMIlR2

— Good Morning America (@GMA) June 12, 2020

While there are a number of questions that still need to be answered regarding this pick, ABC has indicated that it plans to air this season of The Bachelor featuring Matt in 2021. Typically, filming would begin in mid-September and the premiere would air on the first Monday in January.

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and subsequent filming restrictions, it is not yet known whether Matt’s season will be filmed with its typical timetable. In fact, Clare Crawley was named as The Bachelorette for the season that should have started airing in late May. Unfortunately, filming for her season was put on hold the night before it was supposed to start, and it has remained on hold.

Matt Already Has A Connection To ‘The Bachelor’

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8hqNNVHjT7/

Choosing Matt to hand out roses is highly unusual in that he has not already been introduced to viewers as a contestant on The Bachelorette. Despite that, he’s not necessarily completely unknown to fans of the franchise.

Those who watched Hannah Brown look for love last year as The Bachelorette know plenty about her runner-up Tyler Cameron. It just so happens that Tyler and Matt are very good friends who go back a long way.

After The Bachelorette, Tyler moved to New York City and became Matt’s roommate. Tyler became heavily involved in Matt’s charity, ABC Food Tours, and they are both members of “The Quarantine Crew” that many Bachelor fans fell in love with over the summer.

Hannah surprised fans by joining Tyler in Florida shortly after attending a memorial service for his mother. She stuck around for a few weeks, prompting a lot of speculation among “Tannah” fans that the two were giving a romantic relationship another go.

A few weeks later, Hannah left “The Quarantine Crew” and joined her family in Alabama. During her time in Florida with Tyler, Matt, and the rest of the group, she and the new star of The Bachelor bonded and formed a tight friendship.

For those franchise fans who had not been following Tyler after The Bachelorette, Matt will be an unknown to them. That will surely generate a lot of buzz, with likely a fair amount of it being negative.

Matt certainly does have a solid backstory that ABC can use in introducing him though, as Tyler remains a favorite among fans of The Bachelorette. That challenge of getting fans on board may be part of the reason they have announced him so early.

It may also be that ABC is making this announcement early as a casting strategy. The network will surely want to ensure they have a truly diverse slate of women competing for Matt’s final rose this winter. They are always some black bachelorettes in the mix, but viewers will surely expect more balance this time.

This announcement will also have fans wondering about Clare’s run as The Bachelorette, but her season is supposedly still in the works. Timetables for filming both of these upcoming seasons remain fluid and fans will be anxious to hear more.