Your wish is finally Grant-ed! The Bachelor is back on ABC, and fan-favorite franchise alum Grant Ellis is returning to screens as our next leading man. The 31-year-old day trader from New Jersey first captured hearts when he fell hard for Jenn Tran on The Bachelorette Season 21. While he may have gone home with a broken heart, the hopeless romantic is hopeful that his future wife is one of the 25 eligible bachelorettes he’ll be meeting outside the mansion during The Bachelor’s January 27 premiere. Will Grant’s second chance at finding love on reality TV be a slam dunk? Or will he be flying solo at the end?
THE BACHELOR SEASON 29: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: Season 29 opens with an unexpected shot of a brick wall. But before you have a chance to wonder if you’re watching the right show or not, Grant Ellis slides into frame and busts a move, “The Bachelor” title flashes on screen, and an absolute jam starts playing to get Bachelor Nation appropriately hyped for what’s ahead.
The Gist: Grant is returning to the Bachelor mansion and reuniting with franchise host Jesse Palmer for an exciting night of small talk, laughs, romance, and corny limo exits. The 25 women he’ll be meeting range in age from 25 to 32 and include several nurses, one boxing trainer, a wedding planner, a few Kardashian stans, a Seattle Seahawks fan, a pumpkin spice season queen, and more lovely ladies looking for love.
As longtime Bachelor Nation members know, the premiere will feature first impressions, a cocktail hour for small talk, several first kisses, and the first rose ceremony of the season. After he hands out the coveted first impression rose, Grant will get a taste of just how challenging the journey ahead will be when he sends his first group of women home. As the season progresses, we’ll see Grant and his gals go on one-on-one dates and group dates around the world. If the season follows the typical format, we’ll also get Hometown Week, Fantasy Suite Week, and a finale check-in with Grant’s family before he chooses one of his finale two women to propose to — if he can decide, that is…
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? As always, franchise spin-offs The Golden Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and Bachelor in Paradise come to mind — especially since The Bachelorette Season 21 introduced us to Grant. The Season 29 contestants are also big on rom-coms, so here’s hoping viewers will feel the same sparks they do when watching rom-coms like Grant’s favorite, Love Don’t Cost A Thing.
Our Take: While watching our dearly beloved Joey Graziadei be the best damn bachelor this franchise has ever seen during Season 28, I recall repeatedly thinking, “Damn, I’d hate to be the guy who has to follow this.” But in addition to his dreamy looks, what made Joey such a stellar lead was his genuine heart, strong respect for women, charming personality, and refreshing emotional depth — all of which Grant possesses in spades. So dare I say, the franchise made just the right casting call!
With clear intentions of finding lasting love, getting engaged, and starting a family, Grant wastes no time opening his heart to contestants and viewers alike. He shares his hopes, fears, formative experiences, and loved ones in the premiere in hopes of helping us understand who he is beyond The Bachelor. Whether he’s showing his skills on the basketball court, singing and playing piano, or busting out his signature dance move in the driveway of the mansion, the self-proclaimed goofball exhibits effortless flair that will have Bachelor Nation swooning. That said, judging from Night 1 and his time on The Bachelorette, this man seems serious about finding love, so we can only hope this season’s distracting drama is kept somewhat in check.
While Grant’s premiere maintains the same general format as seasons past, there are several twists throughout the night — including Linda, the no-drama llama and an extra first impression rose perk — designed to shake things up. And based on he dramatic finale preview, which shows host Jesse Palmer telling Ellis, “We’ve got both women. They’re here on standby. And, of course, I have to know which one to send first,” the season will leave us — and Grant! — guessing until the very end.
On the heels of Tran’s historic season as the first Asian American Bachelorette lead, Ellis casting marked another promising step towards inclusive, diverse storytelling for the franchise, which has come under fire for mishandling issues related to race in the past. In a June 2024 interview with the Los Angeles Times, executive producers Claire Freeland and Bennett Graebner addressed major missteps during The Bachelor Season 25, which featured the show’s first Black lead, Matt James, admitting that the season was mishandled on many levels. Ellis’ season will show if those behind the franchise are truly committed to positive change.
Sex and Skin: On a scale from one to Zach Shallcross’ shower sizzle reel, Grant’s premiere keeps it pretty classy. We get a few steamy Night 1 make-out sessions, but as we know from past experience, things are sure to heat up as the series progresses. After all, there’s a whole Fantasy Suite week! We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again — if there’s one thing this franchise is going to give us, it’s tantalizing footage of bedroom lights being turned off.
Parting Shot: Before a larger look at Season 29, The Bachelor premiere concludes with a shot of Grant and his remaining ladies toasting to the journey ahead as well as a comical Jesse Palmer farewell we wouldn’t dare spoil.
Sleeper Star: Linda the no-drama llama is obviously destined for greatness, but first impression-wise, Zoe McGrady’s T-shirt cannon was a real standout for me. Couples merch? Iconic. An engaging activity right out of the limo? We love to see it. A first impression that extends to your fellow contestants? Badass. It’ll be interesting to see how the bold, creative contestant progresses throughout the season. We also have to give a shoutout to Grant’s family, who appeared several times throughout the premiere. Though we likely won’t see too much more of them throughout the journey, we can’t wait for Grant to reunite with them again down the line — especially since he told us, “[The journey] was like a therapy session for me in terms of me rekindling my relationship with my dad.”
Most Pilot-y Line: “He’s a tall drink of water for sure, but I would drink that water every day.” The ladies are THIRSTY for Grant, and they have good reason to be.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Grant has all the qualities of a fan-favorite Bachelor lead and seems to be here for — say it with me now — the right reasons!
The post Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Bachelor’ Season 29 On ABC, Where There’s A Full-Court Press For Grant Ellis’ Heart appeared first on Decider.
