Shockwaves reverberated throughout Bachelor Nation earlier this month when the season of The Bachelorette slated to air on the 2025 TV schedule was canceled, followed by a report about the “toxic” workplace culture of the franchise. To add to the confusion of it all, it seems the decision to pause the spinoff was a sudden one, as reports suggest a Season 22 lead had already been chosen — and it allegedly wasn’t one of the current contestants from Grant Ellis’ season.
Who Was Allegedly Picked As The Bachelorette Season 22?
As a longtime Bachelor watcher, I was surprised and disappointed to learn that I wouldn’t be able to see one of Grant Ellis’ eliminated contestants get a second chance at love on her own season of The Bachelorette. It turns out I wouldn’t have gotten that even if the show hadn’t been put on hiatus, because the woman allegedly chosen to lead Season 22 was a familiar face from Joey Graziadei’s season.
The Bachelor alum Ashley Iaconetti reports on her Almost Famous podcast (via Swooon) that fourth-place finisher Maria Georgas was producers’ first pick for the upcoming season, saying:
We’re pretty certain that Maria from Joey’s season was a frontrunner, as we thought that she was a frontrunner to be the Bachelorette during Jenn’s season. The source says that they don’t know exactly what happened, but they couldn’t make Maria happen, and that’s why the show didn’t get picked up because they just didn’t think that they had… I’m assuming that they didn’t think they had a strong enough lead that was going to get enough ratings.
Maria Georgas — who made headlines recently for allegedly breaking up with Pete Davidson (a rumor Georgas firmly refuted) — has said she was the first choice to lead Season 21, but that she decided to back out. Jenn Tran was ultimately chosen as The Bachelor franchise’s first Asian lead, but she denies that she was the backup option.
Almost Famous co-host and former Bachelor Ben Higgins weighed in on what he’d heard about the decision to cancel the season rather than pick a different lead. He alleges:
Somebody that had a lot of influence over the show was fairly stuck on this Maria storyline and said, ‘If we’re not going to do Maria, it’s not worth doing.'
Ashley Iaconetti said her sources suggested two women from Grant Ellis’ season were on the short list for Season 22, as well as Rachel Recchia, who was a co-lead with Gabby Windey on The Bachelorette Season 19. Recchia, meanwhile, didn’t name names but told Iaconetti and Higgins (per US Weekly) that she also heard a decision had been made:
I heard the lead was decided and it made sense to me who they picked. Again, rumors.
Could The Bachelor veterans be correct about Maria Georgas being the reason for hitting pause on The Bachelorette, or was it the result of the ensuing accusations of executive producers fostering a toxic work environment?
Production Crew Accuse Bachelor EPs Of Fostering Hostile Environment
Following news of The Bachelorette’s hiatus, the majority of the staff who would have worked on the production were reportedly laid off, but ahead of that, Deadline reports that one producer described the franchise as a “dumpster fire” under its current EPs — Claire Freeland (who, according to the report, was allegedly responsible for the "cruel" treatment of Jenn Tran during her finale) and Bennett Graebner. Another producer reportedly said:
The last two years, but particularly the last six months, have just been incredibly hostile, toxic and horrible.
Additional reports said the executive producers gave passive-aggressive criticism to work of longtime employees, stayed in closed offices with little communication with the staff and ignored senior members of the team. Workers were allegedly led to believe that they would be fired if they didn’t “step in line.” Warner Bros Television Group is reportedly looking into the complaints.
Things definitely seem to be getting messy behind the scenes of ABC’s reality dating franchise, so while we wait to see what comes of all the drama, we can always escape into Grant Ellis’ love story. New episodes air at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription.
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