By now, you're probably well aware that Clare Crawley's season of The Bachelorette didn't exactly go according to plan.
First, Clare's season was postponed due to coronavirus concerns, and then, she threw producers a curveball that even the nightmarish rollercoaster that is 2020 couldn't have prepared them for.
Apparently, Clare bowed out of the competition after falling madly in love with Dale Moss and deciding she had no interest in going through the motions with a bunch of runners-up.
Fortunately, producers had a plan B in place.
Tayshia Adams had been quarantining throughout the competition just in case Clare was unable to perform her duties.
And so, in an unprecedented twist, a midseason switcheroo took place, and fan favorite Tayshia stepped in for Clare, who will likely be roasted for her refusal to honor her commitment to the show.
But hey -- after a full season of Peter Weber's flightiness (pun fully intended), a decisive Bachelorette who knows exactly what she wants might be a welcome change of pace.
The Bachelorette is set to debut in September, which means producers are beginning to shift their focus to the next season of The Bachelor -- and there's bound to be some twists in that one, as well.
As you've likely heard by now, Matt James will be the first black Bachelor, a long overdue development that promises to bring a fresh perspective -- and possibly a new audience -- to the famously lily-white series.
Filming will reportedly get underway as Tayshia's season is in its final weeks.
That's a much tighter schedule than usual, but it seems producers are hoping to make up for lost time by having Matt's season ready to debut in early 2021.
As we learned this week, Matt's season will also be a travel-free affair, and will take place entirely within a quarantine "bubble."
One major difference from Clare and Tayshia's season, however, is that Matt's will be an East Coast production.
According to insiders, the entire season will be filmed at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in rural Farmington, Pennsylvania.
Given that the show is usually headquartered in Los Angeles -- at least for the first few weeks of each season -- episodes that are filmed in the Northeast in autumn and early winter might wind up having a distinctly different vibe.
Matt's from Raleigh, North Carolina, but he currently resides in Manhattan, so he probably appreciates that he'll be able to stick closer to home.
Other than that, details about James' season have been mostly kept under wraps, but for some fans seem to think the latest tweet from the official Bachelor account is a clue that a big announcement is on the way.
“It’s in our DNA,” the show tweeted along with this double helix of roses.
For reasons that aren't entirely clear, some fans and media outlets are making a Very Big Deal about the tweet, but it seems to be nothing more than a social media intern participating in a meme and suggesting that handing out roses is in the franchise's DNA.
But honestly, there have been so many twists in recent months that at this point, we're not ruling anything out.
