More heartbreak at Texans stadium: ‘Bachelor’ contestants arrive to vie for love
It looks like “Top Chef” isn’t the only reality-TV show causing a stir in the Bayou City.
“The Bachelor” fans in Houston are buzzing over sightings of the cast and crew visiting the city for what will be one of the show’s “group dates” during Season 26, expected to premiere on ABC in January.
Clayton Echard, a 28-year-old orthopedic salesman from Eureka, Mo. — who will be introduced to fans Tuesday in the upcoming Season 18 of sister-serial “The Bachelorette” with fan favorite Michelle Young — may be the next bachelor with his hands full of long-stemmed red roses, according to Variety, but that hasn’t been officially announced.
Social media is blowing up with posts from Houstonians spotting Echard, host Jesse Palmer — the Season 5 bachelor who is taking over duties from longtime host Chris Harrison, let go in June after 20 years with the franchise — and other cast and crew across the city. On Tuesday, Palmer posted a photo with Echard on his Instagram with the caption, “Meet my younger, bigger, better looking brother from another mother @claytonechard,” accompanied by a rose emoji.
Echard and carefully selected contestants arrived in Houston for a group date to a Texans game, according to Reality Steve, a Dallas-based writer who blogs and tweets about reality TV. Steve posted a video of Echard working out on his Twitter page, likely shot from the hotel gym at C. Baldwin Curio Collection by Hilton in downtown Houston, where the crew has stayed for a week.
Word on the street was cast and crew would remain in Houston until Friday, and the hotel lobby was transformed for the taping.
With a 1-4 record, one has to wonder why ABC chose a Texans game as the group date during one of Houston’s more soupyweather Octobers. Apparently, starting center Justin Britt is a former college teammate of Echard’s from their days at the University of Missouri, Reality Steve reports.
Ratings for “The Bachelor” have inched downward, though it remains ABC’s highest-rated unscripted show. During the pandemic, the reality-datingshow universe has been re-energized with new fan favorites such s “Too Hot to Handle,” “Too Hot to Handle Latino,” “F-Boy Island” and “Love Island.”
Time will tell if this uptick in “unscripted” romance will be able to hold on to TV watchers’ fickle attention.