Season 29 of The Bachelor, featuring 31-year-old Grant Ellis as the lead is just around the corner, and bachelor nation is abuzz for, as one of his contestants coins him, “the hottest bachelor ever.” The season will premier on Monday, Jan. 27, with episodes airing weekly.
Who is Grant Ellis?
Ellis first graced Bachelor Nation’s screens last June as a contestant on Jenn Tran’s season of the Bachelorette, and will be this year’s bachelor. He is from New Jersey, he played pro-basketball until 2018 and now works as a day trader.
Disclaimer: I did some research, and pro-basketball player does not inherently mean NBA. He played Division 1 in college, and then played in the Dominican Republic league.
Besides basketball, the focus of Ellis’ season is on family, as many of the previews feature the Bachelor saying he wishes to meet the mother of his children on the show.
What about the contestants?
A group of 25 women will compete for Grant’s heart, ranging in age from 25 to 32-years-old. This cast is a bit older than past seasons of the Bachelor or Bachelorette, but after the messy ending Tran had on season 21 of the Bachelorette, the producers might be looking for a bit more maturity.
We can guess which ladies will stick around the longest by looking at their prominence in the previews.
Alexe Godin, a 27-year-old speech therapist from Canada is featured heavily in the promotion, including a scene where she and Grant play a romantic song on the piano together. I’m already pacing my bets that she will be in the final three girls.
Other recurring faces include 26-year-old Kyleigh Henrich, a retail manager from D.C. and Litia Garr, a 31-year-old venture capitalist from Salt Lake City. It’s not very often you see someone from Utah on the Bachelor, but the state has had a big year in terms of pop culture.
So far the season villain appears to be Alli Jo Hinkes. She is shown taking up a large amount of Ellis’ time, which offends the other contestants who want to get to know him, but that kind of drama is fairly common early in the show and does not necessarily mean she will continuously butt heads with the rest of the girls. We won’t be able to fully predict her Bachelor storyline until night one has aired.
What can we expect?
Each season after spending a few weeks in the Los Angeles Bachelor Mansion, the cast will travel to various destinations around the world to continue their love stories. From this season’s previews, the cast is seen spending time around Europe. The Bachelor Fantake youtube channel identified filming locations in Scotland and Spain.
Another trope of the show is that the current lead always gets a pep talk from a Bachelor Nation alumni when the season gets serious. This time around Joey Graziadei, my personal favorite Bachelor, will check up on Ellis.
As far as we can see, this season will have a traditional ending, with Ellis deciding at the last moment who he will propose to, but with every season, we have to expect twists, turns and so, so much drama.
The Bachelor can be viewed live on ABC and each episode will be available for streaming on Hulu the following Tuesday. Stay tuned for more updates on Bachelor season 29.
Author: Heather Turner
Editor: Anna Mower
Photos courtesy of ABC Entertainment
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