[This story contains mild spoilers from the season 29 premiere of The Bachelor.]
Twenty-nine seasons in and a common question still remains: What makes you say yes to The Bachelor?
Sure, there’s the prospect of finding love among a hand-picked group of contestants. But you also have to do it in front of a large production crew with cameras there for every step of the “journey,” and then re-live the entire experience — whether good or bad — several months later when America tunes in weekly, live-tweeting your courtship and creating Bachelor Fantasy drafts around your future.
For season 29, there’s also seemingly added pressure for star Grant Ellis. He’s the ABC franchise’s second-ever Black Bachelor, and there are hopes his season will right the mistakes that were made with the first Black Bachelor, Matt James, back in 2021 with season 25. (In an unfortunate bit of timing, James and his winner, Rachael Kirkconnell, split earlier this month after four years together.)
But if you ask Ellis, he’s pretty much shrugged off all that.
“Honestly, I didn’t know a lot about the franchise. I didn’t know a lot about reality TV. I didn’t know. So I didn’t really have any hesitations,” the star tells The Hollywood Reporter of signing on as lead. “You know, it’s a really big platform. You open up yourself up for peoples’ opinions and judgment, but I am just looking for a partner. I asked my mom and dad their opinions and they said go for it, and that’s what I did.”
The premiere episode that aired on Monday night introduced a similarly decisive lead. After dancing and charming his way through a Salt-N-Pepa’s “Whatta Man”-tuned opening, the 31-year-old day trader who lives in Houston, Texas, opened up about how his upbringing has led him to having tunnel vision on the reality series.
“I’m ready to get married. I’m ready to have kids,” he says. “But at the same time, I’m nervous.”
Ellis was plucked as lead after his elimination from Jenn Tran’s 2024 season of The Bachelorette. The former professional basketball player, whose mother signed him up for the Bachelor gig, explained during the premiere that his parents divorced when he was in college (“It was tough. I’ve learned from their relationship a lot”) and that his dad has been in recovery from addiction for 30 years. “His sobriety and my journey finding love, it’s a blessing,” he said of the timing.
When his parents argued when he was younger, he said basketball was his solace. “It was my escape,” he explained; an injury would ultimately end his pro career after four years. “I dealt with a lot of my issues alone and [finding] that emotional connection is big… because I didn’t have that growing up. I don’t want to be lonely anymore. That’s why I’m here,” he said, through tears.
When speaking to THR, he pushes aside any expectations that may be set upon him as the season begins.
“The only people that I owe any responsibility to make proud is myself and my family, especially when it comes to love or how I handle myself,” he says. “How I handle myself and how I handle situations is where I want to make myself proud. Being the second Black Bachelor is cool, and there’s definitely an added element to it. But I think the most important thing is that I’m the Bachelor first. People are going to see my character onscreen and how I handle situations, and hopefully that’s what makes them proud regardless of what color I am.”
Ellis’ first night as the Bachelor was filled with some firsts. His 25 contestants were introduced in pre-taped clips to the audience after they arrived at the Bachelor Mansion to meet Ellis; his sister made a surprise first-night appearance, rattling the women at first (there was also a llama); and the recipient of the coveted “first impression” rose — Alexe, 27, a pediatric speech therapist from Canada — earned the first one-on-one date accompanied with the rose.
“It put a little more pep in my step,” he says of the first rose twist. “It was a good way to start off the season.”
But the most revealing moments came in the teaser for the rest of the season, which showed Ellis agonizing over his final pick only moments before the women were set to arrive at the proposal site. Editing diversions must be considered, but Ellis is heard saying he’s torn between his final two women with only an hour left to decide. “I love both of these women, but I’m scared of making the wrong decision,” he said when pressed by both his father and host Jesse Palmer.
When asking him now — after filming has wrapped and as he heads into the stage where he and his potential winner must maintain a clandestine relationship so as not to spoil the ending — Ellis won’t outright confirm if he found love.
“I will say that I’m very happy with the way things turned out,” he says. “I know that’s an answer that’s been repeated a lot in the past, but I truly am. I won’t speak on if I’m in love or not, but I will say that I’m happy.”
Adding, “Any time you have to let go of someone you care about it’s hard and there’s going to be emotions there, so I think we just have to see how things play out.”
He credits his production team for their support behind the scenes, as well as the casting department for the women who were chosen. “They were honestly the best group; I couldn’t have asked for better. At times I got nervous because they were so great,” he says.
From his behind-the-scenes vantage point, he then thinks for a moment when asked about what surprised him most.
“I was kind of in awe,” he says of the process. “You watch the show and you don’t know how things happen behind the scenes. And then you get a different perspective that at the end of it, behind it all, is somebody who is just looking for a partner. That’s what I was doing and, aside from the big dates and the airplanes and everything that goes into it, is just me trying to find somebody who I want to be with.”
The Bachelor releases new episodes Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC, streaming the next day on Hulu.
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