'Bachelor' Star Matt James Has Arrived! Watch The First Sneak Peek Trailer
The countdown for season 25 of The Bachelor has begun. ABC dropped the first trailer of Matt James' season on Tuesday, November 17, after the premiere of ABC's Big Sky.
"The women are literally falling for you," show host Chris Harrison told James after one contestant tripped while walking over to the 28-year-old hunk. "Matt is a delicious man," another contestant noted.
Harrison then asked James: "You've never been in love?" which led the new Bachelor to confess, "I haven't."
The new season is guaranteed to come with romance and drama as the promo teased a lot of make out sessions and tears.
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The Bachelor franchise also shared the trailer via Instagram. "WHAT. A. MAN. @mattjames919's journey begins January 4 on ABC," they captioned the short clip. While some fans took to the comments section to praise the new lead, others were more than skeptical about James, who has never fallen for another woman before. "The mans never been in love and you pick him for the next bachelor?? ?," one fan questioned.
James was supposed to be a contestant on Clare Crawley's season of The Bachelorette this year. However, he was pulled from the casting list and named the next lead, which is something that's never happened in Bachelor history. ABC announced James as the new Bachelor in June when production for Crawley's season was put on pause due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"Matt has been on our radar since February, when producers first approached him to join Bachelor Nation, as part of Clare's season," ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke said in a statement at the time. "When filming couldn't move forward as planned, we were given the benefit of time to get to know Matt and all agreed he would make a perfect Bachelor."
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Bachelorette alum Tyler Cameron — who is James' longtime best friend — teased his cameo in the upcoming season just days before the debut trailer dropped.
"I saw him recently. No spoilers," Cameron, 27, said on the "Chicks in the Office" podcast on Sunday, November 15. "We are going to get a full dose of Matt. He's gonna have fun, he's gonna be very vulnerable, he's gonna open himself up. We’re gonna learn — I'm gonna learn so much about Matt. This is gonna be good, it'll be good for him."
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Cameron previously told E! News that he's "happy" James wasn't on Crawley's season. "That boy dodged a bullet," the model noted.
However, Cameron is excited for James to shine as the leading man. "Knowing Matt, he could still come out single, who knows," he shared. "But I think he'll have a fiancé. I think this will be everything that we want and hope and haven't gotten in a while in this franchise, it seems like. You know?"
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The New York real estate agent made Bachelor history as the first Black male lead in the franchise. "I think a lot of people are in that situation where they're uncomfortable dating outside their race. It's a conversation starter for a lot of people," James said on Good Morning America in June. "And hopefully again it paves the way for a lot of diverse love stories, because those are beautiful stories."
James also opened up about his prominent title while speaking to Harrison on The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons — Ever! shortly after the news broke. "I've heard from a lot of my Black friends that aren't Bachelor Nation faithful that are excited about me and honored that I'm in the position I'm in and have this opportunity to just represent what it's going to look like to have diverse relationships and tell those love stories," he said.
Season 25 of The Bachelor will premiere on ABC Monday, January 4, at 8 p.m. ET.