Ready to take the lead! ABC released the first trailer for season 25 of The Bachelor featuring Matt James on Tuesday, November 17.
The teaser, which aired during the premiere of ABC’s Big Sky, shows James, 28, front and center as he meets his suitors, goes for a shirtless walk and makes out with one contestant in a hot tub.
“You’ve never been in love?” Chris Harrison asks in the promo, to which the new lead replies, “I haven’t.”
Bachelorette alum Tyler Cameron, who is best friends with James, teased his cameo on the upcoming season two days prior to the trailer’s release.
“I saw him recently. No spoilers,” Cameron, 27, said on the Sunday, November 15, episode of the “Chicks in the Office” podcast, seemingly confirming that he will appear on the show in some capacity.
“We are going to get a full dose of Matt,” the Florida native, who has known James since college, assured his fans. “He’s gonna have fun, he’s gonna be very vulnerable, he’s gonna open himself up. We’re gonna learn — I’m gonna learn so much about Matt. This is gonna be good, it’ll be good for him.”
After initially being announced as one of Clare Crawley’s Bachelorette contestants in June, James made history when was pulled from the cast and named the Bachelor for season 25. He is the first Black Bachelor in the franchise’s history.
“I think a lot of people are in that situation where they’re uncomfortable dating outside their race. It’s a conversation starter for a lot of people,” the ABC Food Tours founder said on Good Morning America in June of being the lead. “And hopefully again it paves the way for a lot of diverse love stories, because those are beautiful stories.”
The former football player opened up to Harrison, 49, on The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons — Ever! about representing the Black community on the show.
“I’ve heard from a lot of my Black friends that aren’t Bachelor Nation faithful that are excited about me and honored that I’m in the position I’m in and have this opportunity to just represent what it’s going to look like to have diverse relationships and tell those love stories,” he said shortly after news of his casting broke.
The North Carolina native began filming his season in September at the Nemacolin Woodlands resort in Pennsylvania.
Season 25 of The Bachelor will premiere on ABC Monday, January 4, at 8 p.m. ET.
