ABC announced on Wednesday, April 7, that the new season of the Bachelor Nation spinoff will kick off on Monday, August 16. The return of the spinoff was previously confirmed during The Bachelor season 25 After the Final Rose special on March 15.

BiP will film in June after taking a year off from shooting in summer 2020 amid the pandemic. It is set to air after Katie Thurston’s season of The Bachelorette — which premieres on June 7 — comes to an end.

The location has yet to be announced, but in years past, the reality show has taken place in Mexico and featured Bachelorette alum Wells Adams as the friendly bartender. The season 7 cast is also currently being kept under wraps.

Bachelor Nation host Chris Harrison, who temporarily stepped back from his role in February amid controversy surrounding his support of season 25 Bachelor winner Rachael Kirkconnell after she was accused of past racist actions, previously told Us Weekly there were a lot of stars to choose from for BiP.

“Obviously, we didn’t shoot last summer, so now we are going to have multiple seasons, it’s going to be a murderers’ row of choices of people,” Harrison, 49, exclusively told Us in November 2020. “And I mean, I hate to say this, but there’s going to be people left on the bench that we love just because you can only have so many people on that beach.”

The Texas native, who has since apologized for not condemning all racist actions and letting down Bachelor Nation with his remarks, teased the fresh BiP season, noting the franchise is “moving forward” amid vaccine progress against the virus.

“This vaccine is on the horizon, there is hope on the horizon and where there’s hope, there’s roses and there’s The Bachelor,” he said in November. “We’re always right there.”

Earlier this year, ABC executive Robert Mills revealed Bachelor Peter Weber as one of his dream contestants this season after the pilot, 29, split from Kelley Flannagan in December 2020 after eight months of dating. Weber was previously linked to Hannah Ann Sluss, whom he proposed to during the season 24 finale, before calling things off and briefly reconnecting with his runner-up, Madison Prewett.

“Oh, that’s interesting. Wow, I love that idea! Absolutely, yeah,” Mills told SiriusXM’s “The Bachelor Recap” podcast host Julia Cunningham in January after she brought up Weber’s availability. “I wanna say, and I could be wrong here, but I’m almost positive I remember this: there were discussions about [former Bachelor] Chris Soules and some stuff happened. But I like the idea of Peter in Paradise.”

Weber, for his part, told Us exclusively that he wasn’t sure BiP was the right fit for him at this point in his life. “I don’t know what I would do,” the former Bachelor admitted. “I do believe [BiP] can work, I definitely do. If I’m just being real, I would say the percentage of it working has severely dropped in my head, but there are great stories that do come out of it. And since there is a chance that it can work and it’s a unique way to meet someone, it’s a fun way to meet someone. … I don’t know if I would personally do it or not yet.”

Once Bachelor in Paradise season 7 wraps, a second season of The Bachelorette featuring Michelle Young as the lead will begin filming, as previously revealed in March. That season of the series will air in the fall of 2021.

This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Johnni Macke