Finally, finally, finally: Season 16 of “The Bachelorette” will premiere tonight.
It’s been a long time coming: Clare Crawley’s season of the long-running ABC reality dating show was supposed to start filming in March and air in the spring, but was thwarted by the coronavirus.
Although host Chris Harrison promises every season will be “the most dramatic,” it looks like he might be right this time around. Crawley, 39, will reportedly be replaced by Tayshia Adams, 30, early into the season after Crawley leaves upon falling in love with contestant Dale Moss.
The oldest “Bachelorette” in history, Crawley has appeared on multiple iterations of the franchise: Juan Pablo’s season of “The Bachelor,” “Bachelor in Paradise” and “The Bachelor Winter Games.” But tonight is her time to shine.
Here’s everything you need to know to stream her first rose ceremony.
What time is it on?
“The Bachelorette” airs on ABC at 8 p.m. EDT.
This season will be different for many reasons, not just because the cast won’t be traveling to romantic locales around the world. (They’re marooned at a resort in La Quinta, Calif., because of the pandemic.) Instead of airing on Monday nights as it has for years, this season will take place on Tuesdays. ABC gave the usual time slot to “Dancing With the Stars,” which normally runs when “The Bachelor” shows are off the air.
How long are the episodes?
Each episode airs for two hours and will end at 10 p.m. Come finale time, expect more: Special episodes in previous seasons have lasted three hours at times.
Tonight, Crawley will meet the many men she has the opportunity of falling in love with, including Moss, Ivan Hall, Zac Clark, Brendan Morais, Ben Smith and Yosef Aborady.
How can I watch or stream it live?
Those with cable can tune their TVs to ABC.
Those without will have a harder time watching. If you have a cable login, you can stream live on ABC.com.
Hulu’s live-TV add-on includes ABC. It can be purchased for $54.99 a month. YouTube TV also includes ABC and costs $64.99 a month.
If you don’t need to watch live, you can catch up the next day on ABC.com.
I thought this season was delayed?
It was. After getting ready to film in March, production of Season 16 was shut down because of the coronavirus. It didn’t resume filming until July.
Instead of airing “The Bachelorette” and “Bachelor in Paradise” this spring and summer as usual, ABC ran a compilation show called “The Bachelor: The Most Unforgettable — Ever!” Fans were able to relive iconic moments of yore and see the start of many long-lasting relationships.
After finally coming close to airing, this season was almost delayed an extra week because of the NBA Finals. If there were to have been a Game 7 in the Lakers-Heat series, ABC would have aired the match instead of “The Bachelorette” on Tuesday night. Luckily for Bachelor Nation, LeBron James and the Lakers got their trophy Sunday, clearing tonight’s airwaves for a rose ceremony instead.
Reportedly, Matt James — Tyler Cameron’s best friend and our next “Bachelor” — is currently filming Season 26 of the franchise at a resort in Pennsylvania, according to Reality Steve.