Why Did ‘The Bachelor’ Add New Women to Matt James’ Season? ABC Exec Tells All
Jan. 27 2021, Published 4:00 p.m. ET
Spilling the tea! ABC executive Robert Mills got real about why the network made the decision to add five new Bachelor contestants in the middle of Matt James' season.
"It was good to throw them in the mix. It wasn’t just to shake things up," Mills told Variety during an interview published on Monday, January 25, noting that they got "a record number of submissions" after James, 29, was announced as the season 15 lead.
"We couldn’t fit everyone in night one, and we had some really interesting girls,” the exec added. “These were women that we had already met with. It was decided pretty much before filming began that they would join later."
During Monday's episode, Brittany Galvin, Michelle Young, Catalina Morales, Kim Li and Ryan Claytor stepped foot onto Pennsylvania's Nemacolin Resort where they were introduced to James for the first time. Upon their arrival, the other contestants made it clear that they were not happy with the new ladies. In fact, Young, 29, made such an impression on the Bachelor that she was awarded the coveted one-on-one date only hours after arriving.
"Michelle has big dreams for the future and says she wants a man by her side that is supportive and driven to make the world a better place," her Bachelor bio reads. "She is looking for the superman to her superwoman and says that, together, she hopes that she and Matt can fall in love and change the world."
Only time will tell if she's the contestant that steals his heart!