Former reality star Matty ‘J’ Johnson weighs in on the future of The Bachelor after production of the dating series was shut down due to COVID-19
The future of The Bachelor was hanging in the balance earlier this year when production on the show was completely shut down as the coronavirus pandemic swept across Australia.
And now that restrictions have eased, former star Matty ‘J’ Johnson believes filming should go full-steam ahead.
The 32-year-old said the show could be reworked to keep social distancing measures in place, following a structure more similar to Netflix’s Blind Date.
‘It’s definitely going to go ahead’: Former reality star Matty J Johnson has weighed in on the future of The Bachelor after production of the dating series was shut down due to COVID-19
Speaking on his podcast The Babble, Matty – who met his fiancée Laura Byrne on The Bachelor in 2017 – thought his re-imagined structure would help new Bachelor Lachlan ‘Locky’ Gilbert find ‘true love’.
‘I’ve been trying to dig to find out what’s happening. I don’t know, but I’ve been speculating,’ Matty said.
‘There was a thought that the show maybe would be cancelled, but Channel Ten have said “No it’s definitely going to go ahead, we just don’t know when”.
‘But now the restrictions have been lifted so you can have 10 people, I think they’ll try to get production back on track.’
Reworked: Speaking on his podcast The Babble , Matty – who met his fiancée Laura Byrne on The Bachelor in 2017 – thought his re-imagined structure would help new Bachelor Lachlan ‘Locky’ Gilbert find ‘true love’
While he thought the show should go ahead, Matty acknowledged there would need to be a lot of changes.
‘Obviously a big part of the show is being intimate, right? But I’m guessing they’re still going to have to abide by social distancing rules, so they’ll have to have that 1.5 metres in between people,’ he said.
‘You know what I reckon? They would have built some kind of make-shift structure, where there’s like a Blind Date set up, in terms of there being separation between contestants.
‘It’s going to have to be more of an intellectual connection, more so then physical’: While he thought the show should go ahead, Matty acknowledged there would need to be a lot of changes
‘And it’s going to have to be more of an intellectual connection, more so then physical.
‘I don’t reckon you’re going to be allowed to kiss each other. So it actually could work out in favour of true love being found.’
Matty admitted he still didn’t know when the spin-off series Bachelor in Paradise would air, despite filming being completed months in advance.
Production on The Bachelor in Oxford Falls, Sydney, was shut down in late March because of the COVID-19 pandemic and is yet to resume.
Channel 10’s head of entertainment, Stephen Tate, said at the time that new Bachelor Locky would continue to have ‘virtual dates’ with the women in lockdown.
‘We’ve got a good amount of the series in the can, we’re about a third of the way in, which buys us a lot of time,’ Mr Tate told The Kyle and Jackie O Show on March 27.
Production on The Bachelor in Oxford Falls, Sydney, was shut down in late March because of the COVID-19 pandemic and is yet to resume.
Channel 10’s head of entertainment, Stephen Tate, said at the time that Locky would continue to have ‘virtual dates’ with the women in lockdown.
‘We’ve got a good amount of the series in the can, we’re about a third of the way in, which buys us a lot of time,’ Mr Tate told The Kyle and J