“The Bachelorette” returns to production, Variety You have learned exclusively.
While an exact start date was not set, the ABC reality show will speed up imminently, with strong security precautions imposed on production, due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
“The Bachelorette” will mark the first major show to return to production in the United States, following the closure of the entire industry due to the pandemic.
Warner Horizon Unscripted confirms that Variety that the studio is preparing to begin production of “The Bachelorette” soon, and that the cast will begin traveling to an isolated location during production for health and safety reasons.
The entire season will be filmed in a quarantined location with all cast and crew members living on site. All will be evaluated before entering the location, and regular tests and temperature checks are expected. The protocols being implemented are said to be very strict and conservative.
“The cast will start traveling very soon because there must be a quarantine period,” explains a person familiar with the production.
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The study declined to offer other details, including location and start date. A source says the season will fire in a private area in southern California, but not in Los Angeles County.
ABC has not set an exact release date, but the network previously revealed that “Bachelorette” will air on Tuesdays this fall at 8pm.
Sources close to the program say negotiations with unions to restart production are still ongoing, along with other productions seeking to return to business after the closure of COVID-19. Unions are approving of individual productions being restarted one by one, and discussions are moving fast enough that the team behind “Bachelorette” wants to be ready when given the green light.
Since “Bachelorette” has the ability to quarantine the entire cast and crew in an isolated location, unlike many scripted series that are filmed in the sound studio in studio batches, the producers believe the risk is limited. The established safety precautions will be more vigorous than most other productions, only given the nature of the show.
“Obviously we cannot film a dating program with people in closed places where people are not authorized and we know that everything is safe,” says one source. “It will be a super safe paradise for everyone to film the show.”
No visitors will be allowed and no member of the press will be invited to set up, effectively creating a bubble around the production of “The Bachelorette”.
“The health and safety of our team and cast is the primary concern,” explains one source, adding that there is always a doctor on set in the “The Bachelor” franchise, even before the pandemic. “There is always solid care for our team, and that will be the case when the program is isolated and recorded. Production goes beyond recommendations. “
Production on the show stopped in mid-March, just as filming would begin. There were no important scenes filmed, except for a few moments with the protagonist Clare Crawley. The close of production allowed time to reissue, so some of the contestants originally announced by Crawley were dropped and new outfits were added. (Matt James, who was initially cast as a contestant on the Crawley season, was selected as ABC’s first black “bachelor”, and his season is expected to air in January 2021.)
