Filming on Clare Crawley’s upcoming season of “The Bachelorette” hasn’t started yet, but the production has already been impacted by the coronavirus.
Speaking Wednesday to “Entertainment Tonight,” longtime host Chris Harrison revealed that shooting will be limited to North America in lieu of the series’ typical “elaborate all-around-the-world tour,” and that numerous other precautions on set will be taken.
“We’re going to stay obviously around the United States, and closer to home when we go on set. There are massive amounts of hand-washing stations. We are having a part of a trailer where we will have a doctor. You can be checked out. So, there’s a ton of precautions being taken,” Harrison said, adding that production will also be “staying away from the bigger cities, bigger metropolises where there is a bigger concentration of people.”
Harrison said that, with filming expected to begin this week, the change in plans was “a quick turnaround, but luckily we had enough time to fix this.”
“The good news is, once we’re all on campus, it’s a little bit of our own self-quarantine,” the 48-year-old added.
On Tuesday, the 32 suitors competing for Crawley’s heart were revealed, including “Bachelorette” alum Tyler Cameron’s best friend.
The long-running show has already taken precautions in other areas, having audience members from this week’s live “Bachelor” finale sign coronavirus disclosure forms.
As for the fate of the spinoff “The Bachelor Summer Games,” Harrison said, “Nothing official has been announced. But a key component of that is getting foreigners in our country.”
On Wednesday evening, President Trump announced a travel ban from several European countries for the next 30 days, beginning Friday.
Reps for ABC and Warner Bros. did not immediately return our requests for comment.