ABC Hits Pause on Season 22 of The Bachelorette

This year, May flowers will not include roses. ABC Network has pressed pause season 22 of The Bachelorette, skipping it on this year’s summer release calendar.

The infamous dating game series debuted in 2003 as a female-led spin-off of The Bachelor. It all relies on a single woman looking for love, given a range of 25 men to choose from, eliminating them one by one through the infamous “rose ceremony.” The countering season began a mage franchise of reality TV, and it became a staple of ABC Networks programming.

This is not the first major change in The Bachelorette‘s production schedule. The spin-off has not consistently appeared on the Network’s schedules since the COVID-19 Pandemic. Prior to that, The Bachelorette had a May-July time slot for about twelve seasons.

But the question remains: why would ABC remove a piece of its most popular franchise from the schedule? In The Bachelorette‘s history, it has not taken a hiatus like this since a three-year hiatus from 2005 to 2008.

ABC Network has not released its own statement regarding the decision, but plenty of online theories and speculation have gone around online.

Since The Bachelor‘s debut in 2002, a steady stream of spin offs and imitations have reached the reality scene. The network’s own franchise included on only The Bachelorette, but also The Golden Bachelor, The Golden Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise, Bachelor in Paradise: After Paradise, The Bachelor: Winter Games, and The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart. Bachelor in Paradise will return for season 10 this summer.

The romance market has grown in the past twenty years, alternatives to ABC’s franchise have increased in popularity, and services such as Love Is Blind and Love Island have been created to compete with The Bachelorette.

Of course, this would be a simple case of full scheduling since the franchise is not the only household series on ABC’s roster. There are classic procedurals such as Grey’s Anatomy, 9-1-1, and The Rookie, as well as Emmy award-winning Abbott Elementary. Not including the time slots needed for new pilots and news segments.

Many speculate that the dramatic outcome of season 21 regarding bachelorette Jenn Tran and her then-fiance, Devin Strader, had a hand in the decision.

The last season of The Bachelorette saw its first Asian American Bachelorette in Jenn Tran, who chose to give her final rose to bachelor Devin Strader. However, Strader ended their relationship quickly afterward, which on its own is not unusual. But what caused widespread outrage through Bachelor Nation was the fact that Strader chose to break up with Tran through a fifteen-minute phone call.

The decisions shocked Bachelor Nation, who sympathized with seeing Tran’s heartbreak played on national television. Strader’s controversial move made for quite a dramatic after-show.

Soon after that finale, Tran went on Dancing With the Stars, placing seventh place. She has since confirmed a relationship with her professional dance partner, Sasha Farber.

So what is it? Scheduling? Breakup drama? Or is it a simple fact that a house full of men does not incite the same drama that a house full of women does? That’s the fun social experiment that makes this show worth watching.

ABC has not canceled The Bachelorette; it merely stalled production and release. What we’re seeing here is most likely an unfortunate case of the network prioritizing an already packed schedule. The Bachelorette will most likely return, albeit in the far-off future.

Season 29 of The Bachelor airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.