It’s hard to remember a time when The Bachelor wasn’t a part of our lives. The iconic dating reality show premiered on ABC in 2002 and has become a TV fixture ever since. The show was renewed for season 28 back in May 2023, and three months later, host Jesse Palmer confirmed the new star during the finale of The Bachelorette — Joey Graziadei! The full trailer for the upcoming season of The Bachelor was released December 7, teasing an “unprecedented” and “shocking” ending to Joey’s journey.
Hollywood Life has all the latest news about The Bachelor season 28 that you need to know.
Who Is The New Bachelor?
The new Bachelor for season 28 was announced during The Bachelorette season 20 finale. Many expected the next suitor to be one of Charity Lawson‘s final two men: Joey or Dotun Olubeko. Since Dotun got engaged to Charity, that left Joey as the obvious choice. “It’s definitely surreal,” Joey said. “It’s sinking in very slowly, but I’m trying my best to just stay present and enjoy it. But it’s crazy. This is wild. I never expected this at all. Crazy stuff, but exciting.”
Xavier Bonner was another possibility before the announcement, but he was a controversial pick. Charity eliminated Xavier before they were supposed to go into the fantasy suite. After Xavier confessed that he’d cheated on his ex and admitted he had doubts about their relationship, Charity sent him home. “It’s just a simple promise of can you trust yourself enough to not hurt me. Maybe that’s too high of an expectation, but at this point, the amount of doubt that you have for yourself…I don’t have that doubt for you,” she said to him. “I don’t want to force you to get there prematurely, I only want you there if you’re fully ready. Because when I choose my person, I want that person to be secure in themselves and I want them to be ready.”
Aaron Bryant was also a possibility to become the new star of The Bachelor season 28. He was sent home during the hometown dates, but he showed up in Fiji to try and win her back ahead of the finale. However, he was cast on Bachelor in Paradise instead of as the new Bachelor.
When Does The Bachelor Season 28 Premiere?
The Bachelor season 28 premieres January 22, 2024. The season follows Bachelor In Paradise season 9 and The Golden Bachelor, both of which recently wrapped on ABC. The Golden Bachelor is the senior spinoff where Gerry Turner searched for love heartbreaking loss.
The Bachelor Season 28 Trailer
There’s no shortage of drama in the trailer for Joey’s season of The Bachelor. “What I’m looking for is something so real that anyone can feel it, they can see it, and it gets me excited to think about it,” Joey says in the trailer, followed by clips of the women fighting over the hunky leading man.
Later in the trailer, host Jesse Palmer says that the season finale will include “an unprecedented, shocking first in Bachelor history.” We see Joey crying at the final rose ceremony and saying, “I was crazy. I didn’t expect that at all. I don’t think that’s happened before. I don’t even know what to say. I know I gave as much as I could. I’m sick of feeling like this. I don’t know. It feels wrong. I don’t know what to do.”
Are The Bachelor’s Zach Shallcross & Kaity Biggar Still Together?
Zach Shallcross was the star of The Bachelor season 27 and found love with Kaity Biggar. The couple got engaged in the season 27 finale and are still very much in love today. In July 2023, the couple announced on Instagram that they had officially moved in together in Austin, Texas.
During the After the Final Rose special in March 2023, Zach and Kaity revealed they had big plans for the future beyond just moving in together. “We have talked about [wedding planning]. We’re thinking 2025 we’re going to have a wedding. We’ll see what happens after that with little ones!” Zach said at the time. The two recently moved in together in Austin, Texas, so the future is looking bright for them!
