The Bachelorette's sixteenth season starring with Clare Crawley remains in limbo amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but ABC and the show's producers are reportedly brainstorming creative ideas on how to make the season's production still happen.
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"Though a resort has not been decided on, if one is found, the show has discussed filming the season without the usual travel," the insider continued.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
In previous The Bachelorette editions, the show begins filming at the famed Bachelor mansion in Malibu, CA, and then the cast travels to a destination or two in the United States before moving on to international visits to multiple countries.
However, nothing is "set in stone," according to the source, and there would need to be a change in the pandemic and strict regulations on self-quarantining for the season to commence.
ABC is reportedly hopeful The Bachelorette -- which normally premieres in May -- can now premiere in this fall, however the network is more concerned with keeping its cast and crew safe.
The Bachelorette's sixteenth season had originally been scheduled to begin production on March 13 and premiere on ABC on May 18, but production was delayed only a few days before it was set to start due to the coronavirus pandemic.
At the time, Chris Harrison said filming would be delayed for at least two weeks.
Now, a full month has gone by and there are still no concrete plans to tape the show.
Reality Steve spoiler blogger Steve Carbone reported in a recent blog posting that The Bachelorette is looking to film July and August this summer for five weeks with the intention of premiering the show in September.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
"Everyone on cast and crew would be tested [for coronavirus] prior to arrival, the show would be on complete lockdown for 5 weeks of filming with no one leaving the premises," according to Carbone.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOWBeing on lockdown would mean there would be no public dates, hometown dates, or exotic Fantasy Suite dates. All cocktail parties, Rose Ceremonies and dates would be filmed at the same location.
Clare suggested last month "it's not too late" for men to submit applications or be nominated for her The Bachelorette cast given the delay.
It's possible Clare -- who will be the oldest The Bachelorette star ever at age 39 -- saw her initial list of 32 potential suitors that was previously released and isn't impressed considering 21 of them are age 29 or younger.
Harrison recently admitted to People that coronavirus may, in fact, affect Clare's final lineup of bachelors.
Some of the previously-announced men may be sick or unable to take more time off from work and participate, and so new bachelors may be added to the cast.
"If you use your common sense, you have to think, 'Okay, out of all these people, are they all going to be healthy?' You pray to God that they all are, but what happens if some of these people are infected? What happens if some of them get severely sick?" Harrison reasoned.
"I mean, [Colton Underwood] went down, so once the smoke clears and this virus subsides and we think, 'Okay, let's get back to work.' It's going to be a brave new world and we're all going to have to reassess everything."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
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When Harrison first announced The Bachelorette's postponement over coronavirus concerns, he admitted on March 13 that ABC didn't feel it had much of a choice.
"Things are not changing by the day; they are changing by the hour. But I was consulted about this. It was not only the right thing to do; it was the only thing to do," Harrison had said in an Instagram video.
But Harrison insisted in the video the decision to push off filming was still "hard to make."
"This is massive. Jobs will be lost, paychecks will be lost, and there's just no way to avoid that, and that doesn't avoid the fact that this was still the right thing to do and the only thing to do," Harrison had explained.
Warner Bros. Television Group, the production company that produces The Bachelor and its various spinoffs, also issued a statement to Us on March 13 announcing production of The Bachelorette was going to be pushed back "out of an abundance of caution."
"There have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 on any of our productions, but the health and safety of our employees, casts and crews remains our top priority. During this time, we will continue to follow the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control as well as local officials and public health professionals in each city where our productions are based," said the production company.
The coronavirus pandemic has affected production schedules of dozens of other reality TV shows, as well as countless scripted TV series.
Not only is ABC reportedly scrapping The Bachelor Summer Games, but CBS has also postponed filming new seasons of Survivor and The Amazing Race.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
