‘Listen to Your Heart’: Everything to Know About ‘The Bachelor’ Spinoff

Credit: Courtesy of John Fleenor/ABC

‘Listen to Your Heart’: Everything to Know About ‘The Bachelor’ Spinoff

The Bachelor is back. While production on season 16 of The Bachelorette was suspended amid the coronavirus pandemic, the ABC franchise’s latest spinoff, Listen to Your Heart, premieres on Monday, April 13. “It’s a very different mansion. We’re not in the Bachelor mansion! We moved to a bigger place — a little different vibe,” Chris Harrison told Us Weekly exclusively ahead of the first episode. “There are some great characters.” Harrison notes that the cast includes musicians from “crazy walks of life,” noting Trevor Holmes even competed on American Idol. “Some people have been grinding at this for forever,” he said. “One of the guys was just on American Idol, someone came out of their church choir, musical theater, you name it. They all want that relationship. And they know it’s tough to find being a musician.” While the longtime host understands that Bachelor Nation may be skeptical to tune into another show, he assured Us that there will be plenty of drama. [jwplayer WLqi7AGX-l3ahXupL] “Just know that if you’re a Bachelor fan, it’s going to have that awesome familiarity. It’s going to feel right,” he teased. “But then there’s going to be this weird, eccentric twist to it that you’re not quite sure where it’s going. That’s why it’s so good and so new and so fresh. I think Bachelor Nation will absolutely just gobble this thing up.” He added: “If we’ve learned anything over the years, it is about forming those relationships, the sincere love, then we’re going to lean into the music part of it." The Bachelor: Listen to Your Heart premieres on ABC Monday, April 13, at 8 p.m. ET. Scroll through for everything you need to know about the new series:

Credit: Courtesy of John Fleenor/ABC

‘Listen to Your Heart’: Everything to Know About ‘The Bachelor’ Spinoff

The Bachelor is back. While production on season 16 of The Bachelorette was suspended amid the coronavirus pandemic, the ABC franchise’s latest spinoff, Listen to Your Heart, premieres on Monday, April 13. “It’s a very different mansion. We’re not in the Bachelor mansion! We moved to a bigger place — a little different vibe,” Chris Harrison told Us Weekly exclusively ahead of the first episode. “There are some great characters.” Harrison notes that the cast includes musicians from “crazy walks of life,” noting Trevor Holmes even competed on American Idol. “Some people have been grinding at this for forever,” he said. “One of the guys was just on American Idol, someone came out of their church choir, musical theater, you name it. They all want that relationship. And they know it’s tough to find being a musician.” While the longtime host understands that Bachelor Nation may be skeptical to tune into another show, he assured Us that there will be plenty of drama. [jwplayer WLqi7AGX-l3ahXupL] “Just know that if you’re a Bachelor fan, it’s going to have that awesome familiarity. It’s going to feel right,” he teased. “But then there’s going to be this weird, eccentric twist to it that you’re not quite sure where it’s going. That’s why it’s so good and so new and so fresh. I think Bachelor Nation will absolutely just gobble this thing up.” He added: “If we’ve learned anything over the years, it is about forming those relationships, the sincere love, then we’re going to lean into the music part of it." The Bachelor: Listen to Your Heart premieres on ABC Monday, April 13, at 8 p.m. ET. Scroll through for everything you need to know about the new series:

Credit: Courtesy of John Fleenor/ABC

The Inspiration

Harrison told Us that the inspiration behind the series was Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s steamy performance at the 2019 Oscars. “I mean, A Star Is Born, Gaga, Bradley Cooper, that moment at the Oscars, when I thought they were just going to have sex on stage,” he quipped. “Could we create that kind of chemistry? Could we do that with The Bachelor?”

Credit: Courtesy of John Fleenor/ABC

When It Airs

Listen to Your Heart airs in The Bachelor’s go-to time slot, Mondays at 8 p.m. ET. It will last for six weeks.

Credit: Courtesy of John Fleenor/ABC

How It Works

Listen to Your Heart follows a similar format to Bachelor in Paradise. During the premiere, there will be eight female contestants and 12 men. As a result, the women will be handing out the roses at the rose ceremony after going on dates and spending time with the men at the mansion. The following week, more women will arrive and the men will have the power.

“With the rose ceremonies, there are men and women. Women hand out the roses to the guys, guys will then hand out roses to the women and people will be going home based on those relationships — having nothing to do with the music,” Harrison noted to Us. “Music’s always a part of the show on the dates and you know, they’ll be at the house, playing for each other, but it’s not about the performances.”

Credit: Courtesy of Maarten de Boer/ABC

The Contestants

There will be 23 total singles competing on Listen to Your Heart.

According to Harrison, fans may even see the contestants on future Bachelor spinoffs. “That’s the good thing about The Bachelor. There are no rules,” he explained to Us. “It’s not like we’d be breaking any regulations,” he said. “If somebody is single and we feel [they] would be great for the franchise, why not?”

Credit: Courtesy of John Fleenor/ABC

The Guest Stars

Jason Mraz, Kesha, Toni Braxton, Andy Grammer, Pat Monahan, Ashlee Simpson, Evan Ross, Rita Wilson, Jewel and Taye Diggs will appear on the series to give feedback on the musical performances. Chris Lane, Shaggy and The Plain White Tees, meanwhile, are set to perform.

There will also be several Bachelor Nation guest judges, including Rachel Lindsay and Bryan Abasolo, JoJo Fletcher and Jordan Rogers, Arie and Lauren Luyendyk Jr., and Kaitlyn Bristowe and Jason Tartick.