Network 10’s The Bachelor May Cast a Bisexual Man

Rumours are swirling that the upcoming season of Network 10’s The Bachelor could feature a bisexual man for the first time.

The Bachelor’s casting call video, posted to the program’s official social media pages on January 6, asks for “single men and women” to apply.

The ad states, “Are you searching for that special someone but just can’t seem to find them? The Bachelor is back with a whole new look for 2022 and we’re looking for single men and women who are looking for the love of their life.”

We're on the hunt for single women and men looking for a shot at true love. ❤️

APPLY NOW for #TheBachelorAU 👉 https://t.co/GPFA5xMvpo pic.twitter.com/Xk1pHRgWJa

— The Bachelors Australia 🌹 (@TheBachelorAU) January 6, 2022

Network 10 would not confirm whether the rumour is true or not, with a spokesperson saying in a statement, “Trying to fit a square peg into a round hole is so 2020. Love is love and we look forward to casting our next Bachelor, whoever they may be.”

Filming is set to begin in May, however, Network 10 has yet to announce the identity of the bachelor. The show is accepting applications for those aged between 23 and 40 years old.

If a bisexual Bachelor indeed becomes a reality, it will follow on the heels of the seventh season of The Bachelorette Australia, which aired in 2021, in which Brooke Blurton became not only the world’s first indigenous Bachelorette, but also the first to identify as bisexual. Blurton ultimately chose landscaper Darvid Garayeli as the winner over runner-up Jamie-Lee Days.

Blurton and Garayeli announced on January 2 that they had separated.

Ratings Down Overall

Ratings are down substantially for both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette franchises, with last year’s viewership particularly disappointing for the finale of The Bachelor. Only 629,000 viewers tuned in to watch as pilot Jimmy Nicholson chose Holly Kingston over runner-up Brooke Cleal, the lowest ratings in the franchise’s history.

Beverley McGarvey, the executive vice president and chief content officer for ViacomCBS Australia and New Zealand, told Mediaweek, “The thing we need to do a lot of work on next year is around The Bachelor and The Bachelorette…‘What do we do with Bachelor? Can we get it back to its glory days?’”

“Often with those legacy formats, there are pivots that you can make, there are things that you can do, and shows like MasterChef and The Block that have been on the air for more than a decade prove that a format can go for a long time when you carefully manage it, and sometimes it’s cyclical,” McGarvey said.