Bachelor Nation is heading back to paradise!
After skipping the summer spinoff in 2020, ABC is now "hell-bent" on bringing back Bachelor in Paradise this year for its seventh season.
As network exec Rob Mills told Variety on Jan. 13, "We are hell-bent on figuring out how we make Paradise work." Mills, who is a senior vice president at ABC Entertainment, said, "Unless something horrendous happens, I feel very confident that Paradise is coming back on this summer—how and where it's going to be, it's still too early to tell."
The coronavirus pandemic ruled out the possibility of filming the dating show in summer 2020. Instead, the franchise released season 16 of The Bachelorette starring Clare Crawley and Tayshia Adams (filmed in July and August), before shooting The Bachelor with Matt James in September.
While Paradise typically films in Mexico, the team understands that may not be possible. Even so, they're willing to get to work and film in a "bubble" if needed.
He noted, "We will figure out something—I never know what will happen, but I feel very confident in saying that you will get Bachelor in Paradise next season... We will do what we can to get it done."
Casting has not been announced.
The beachy show last aired in 2019, featuring Tayshia and John Paul Jones.
However, Paradise is not the only project ABC is working on. Mills revealed the senior citizen version of The Bachelor could film sometime soon, potentially in fall 2021, and he called the casting "amazing."
He said, "In addition to Paradise, the other thing we want to get serious about revisiting is the older Bachelor spinoff. We're actively working on making it happen."
Mills added, "Part of the problem was that during the whole year of the pandemic, obviously the most at-risk group was older citizens. Now, the fact that we've found a way to shoot in a bubble, if we have to do it in a bubble, we would be able to figure that out."
In the meantime, we've all been on Bachelor overload lately, with Matt's season kicking off just days after Tayshia found true love in Zac Clark and accepted his proposal. Already, fans are obsessed with the latest Bach villain, Queen Victoria.
Watch the real estate broker search for his future bride on Mondays at 8 p.m.