We thought the rumours couldn’t be true, but we were wrong – Network Ten has confirmed will be three Bachies for the 2022 season of The Bachelor!
The news was announced on The Project on Monday night, with the official Bachie Instagram sharing a corresponding post soon after.
Felix Von Hofe, Thomas Philbin-Malucelli and Jedidiah “Jed” McIntosh will all be appearing on the show this year with a whole host of gorgeous ladies vying for their hearts.
Felix is a pro basketballer, Thomas is a former restaurant manager turned fitness icon and wildcard Jed is a muso – a drummer, to be specific.
“We are doing a world first! No one in the world has ever had three Bachelors. The way it works, the way everyone gets to know everyone will be very different,” Osher Gunsberg revealed.
Felix said of his decision to sign up to the show: “
The big shakeup comes after ratings plummeted for Jimmy Nicholson’s 2021 season, with it and Brooke Blurton’s season of The Bachelorette pulling in some of the lowest numbers in Bachie history.
Though plenty of die-hard fans still swear by the dating show, many more Aussies have become tired of seeing the same old love stories play out season after season.
With that in mind, the show has moved to the Gold Coast to film the 2022 season and will be introducing a new triple-Bachelor format. But will it be enough to revive the show?
WATCH: Welcome to Country on The Bachelorette
Ten have faced criticism for a lack of diversity on the franchise across race, gender and sexuality, with Brooke making history as the fist openly queen and Indigenous Bachelorette.
There were hopes that producers would continue down the path of diversity after her season by casting a LGBTQIA+ or non-white Bachelor. Sadly, that wasn’t the case.
Over on Twitter, fans voiced their disappointment with three newly cast Bachelors.
“Three white men? For The Bachelor? Groundbreaking,” one wrote.
Another chimed in: “Literally 99% of Australia wanted Tony Armstrong for Bachie and THIS is all you can come up with? Do better Ten.”
But other social media users were stoked by the new format, writing that they can’t wait to see how the Bachelors will navigate having to fight for the girls’ attention.
“After watching one guy get his pick of 24 girls for years it will be so nice to see these dudes humbled when the girls go for the other two guys,” one joked.
As for us, we’ll just have to wait and see how the season turns out before we make any judgements.