“The Bachelor” is ready to play some major games. The long-running ABC reality show will get yet another spinoff, this time just in time for the 2018 Winter Olympics. TV Guide reports that “The Bachelor Winter Games” will debut in February and will coincide with TV coverage of the Winter Olympic Games.
What is "The Bachelor Winter Games" about?
The show will feature all-star contestants from past seasons of the ABC dating shows “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,” including some familiar franchise villains who may not have been looking for love for the “right reasons” during their first go-around.
Instead of snoozing and boozing at "Makeout Mansion" in Los Angeles, the players will be holed up at a luxury winter resort where they will perform “winter-themed athletic challenges.” Which you just know will be capped off with some hot toddies. But don’t worry, rose lovers, the ABC press release reveals players will also take a shot at “the toughest sport of all – love.”
This isn’t the first time "The Bachelor" played games
The hit ABC franchise tested the waters with a competition-themed show in the past. Before “Bachelor in Paradise” dominated ABC’s summertime Monday nights, the network tested out the competition show “Bachelor Pad,” which featured past "Bachelor" and "Bachelorette" contestants competing in challenges and vying for a $250,000 cash jackpot.
The show lasted for three seasons and several hosting scenarios and formulas were tweaked.
Ahead of its debut, longtime “Bachelor” host Chris Harrison described the show as “’Survivor’ meets ‘Big Brother.’” Harrison told People magazine the show was “an homage to our fans.”
But producers quickly realized that cash prizes weren’t the heart of the franchise.
The show was scrapped for “Bachelor in Paradise,” which features a rotating lineup of show alums looking for love at a Mexican resort. Several couples have found love on the summertime spinoff, including newlyweds Jade and Tanner Tolbert and engaged lovebirds Carly Waddell and Evan Bass.
The cast for "The Bachelor Winter Games" has not yet been announced and there’s no word if Harrison will step in as host, although it would be a surprise if he didn’t have a role in it.
“Bachelor” creator Mike Fleiss will executive produce the new show alongside Martin Hilton.
"The Bachelor Winter Games" premieres in February 2018 and will air concurrently with the next cycle of “The Bachelor.”
