The 2025 lead for ABC’s reality dating series will be the second Black male lead in the hit franchise.
Jenn Tran with Grant Ellis on ‘The Bachelorette.’
DISNEY/John Fleenor
Grant Ellis made waves when he was announced as the next lead of The Bachelor.
Quickly after his elimination from Jenn Tran’s currently airing season of The Bachelorette, ABC announced that the former pro basketball player and current day trader from New Jersey would be the star of the forthcoming 29th season of ABC’s hit reality dating franchise when it returns in 2025.
Typically, the next season’s star would be announced closer to finale. But ABC unscripted chief Rob Mills explained on X that they made the reveal in record time so contestants can still apply to be on his season.
Following years of diversity issues within the juggernaut franchise from Warner Horizon, Ellis’ casting will make him the second Black male lead in the two decades since The Bachelor first launched in 2002. Conversations around how the franchise handles race came to a head during the 25th season that starred the first-ever Black Bachelor, Matt James, that aired in 2021. Following that tumultuous season, the series and its spinoffs have made efforts to diversify both its leads and contestants onscreen, as well as with its producers behind the scenes.
Given all of that history, Ellis on Thursday said he jumped when he got the call to be the Bachelor.
“Absolutely zero hesitations,” he told the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast, hosted by Bachelor in Paradise newlyweds Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt. “I was super excited.”
He continued, “When people can handpick, you know, your potential partner for you based on certain things and then you get to sift through and see which woman is for you, which woman is not, who wouldn’t love to do that? So, I’m blessed and I’m in a great situation.”
To prep, Ellis says he’s watching and studying previous Bachelor seasons (mentioning Joey Graziadei, Nick Viall and Clayton Echard’s seasons) and taking notes, similar to how he approached being an athlete and his current job as a trader. His takeaways include committing when he’s ready, asking the right questions, being emotionally aware and not being insensitive to his contestants.
“If I could describe it, I’m just grateful,” he said. “All of this is coming at once, and I’m just living in the moment. When I was called, I just expressed gratitude and I said, ‘Of course. Of course I’ll take the role. If you guys are going to help me find my wife, I’m excited about that.’”
He clarified on Viall’s The Viall Files podcast that he got the call to be the Bachelor “a couple weeks ago,” while he was still processing his split from Tran.
“Unfortunately, things didn’t work out with Jen and you know, I have a chance to write my own story,” he said.
