Sometimes spinoffs are based upon natural, logical progressions. The Bachelorette absolutely makes sense as a spinoff of The Bachelor, for example.
Other times, spinoffs involve a familiar concept — like the Bachelor franchise — combined with something seemingly unrelated. Like the Olympics. Because that’s what we’re getting with The Bachelor Winter Games.
But we’re not complaining. No one is. Because this new spinoff will feature the Bachelor comback of fan favorite Peter Kraus.
In a shocking move, showrunners chose Arie Luyendyk Jr. over Peter Kraus to be the next leading man on The Bachelor.
It’s been a month since that news broke but it’s only just now starting to feel real, you know?
But ABC wasn’t done with making Bachelor franchise decisions based upon random whims, because they’re coming out with The Bachelor Winter Games, which premieres in February.
This spinoff will be a reality competition following a winter sports motif, as you might have guessed from the name.
It will feature returning stars from The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, including some from other countries where Bachelor shows are filmed.
(The Bachelor Nation actually transcends national borders, folks)
These contestants will be filmed living in a winter resort … where they will, and we’re not making this up, compete in an array of winter sport challenges.
Why did they decide to do this?
Our best guess is that they wanted another all stars series like Bachelor in Paradise, but they wanted it to run during the winter.
if it turns out to be successful, this would be good for the network, since it’s a popular franchise.
It would also be good for some of the stars, as The Bachelor Winter Games could help them to “tread water” between seasons (like if someone was on The Bachelorette and is scheduled to appear on Bachelor in Paradise, but fans want more and the person doesn’t want to just return to their hometown in the interim)
We can imagine producers discussing this and someone saying: “Well, we just need a winter version of Bachelor in Paradise” and suddenly a proverbial lightbulb goes off in someone’s mind and they’re like “Like the Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics!”
See, it works to have Bachelor in Paradise in the summer and in Mexico because, even though the temperatures there make your average person want to die, it’s very conducive to people not wearing a lot of clothing and feeling like they’re so removed from their regular lives that anything could happen.
If their winter equivalent were just a bunch of beautiful reality stars hanging out in parkas and looking for love … that just wouldn’t make for great television.
So we suppose that their solution was to make it competitive. We’re hoping that it won’t be athletically demanding, because not everyone is cut out for that.
And we don’t want to see the cast limited at all.
Peter Kraus, of course, is extremely fit, and he could do well.
More importantly, he’s just a popular and beloved figure by fans of the franchise, which is why the news that he’ll be one of the stars of this spinoff really warmed the cockles of our hearts.
Yesterday evening, Michael Fleiss tweeted out the news:
“Yes, Peter will be looking for love– and going for the gold– on #TheBachelor Winter Games!!!!”
Fans haven’t quite forgiven Fleiss for casting Arie Luyendyk Jr. when there was a perfectly good Peter Kraus sitting right there, but this is a step in the right direction.
“Plus, sexy international Bachelors and Bachelorettes from the dozens of countries that also produce #TheBachelor… “
The use of the word “sexy” isn’t necessary, since we’re all familiar with the franchise, but it does seem to imply that there will be matchmaking involved.
“In celebration of #TheBachelor being the world’s No. 1 show, at least 12 different nations will be represented at The Winter Games!!!”
Was anyone else a little surprised to learn that so many countries are involved with the show?
We don’t know how much of an emphasis this show will place on romance.
The games themselves may end up having as much to do with matchmaking as they do with athletic competitions.
(Let’s face it — we’re not expecting this to appeal to people for the sports element)
We’ll all find out what sort of show it is together when The Bachelor Winter Games premieres in February of 2018!
