The Bachelor's 32 bachelorettes who will be competing for Matt James' heart on Season 25 of the show have officially been announced by ABC.

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ABC has announced the official cast of 32 women who will be fighting for Matt's roses on The Bachelor when its 25th season premieres Monday, January 4 at 8PM ET/PT on the network.

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But only 24 bachelorettes will remain after Matt's first night of starring on the reality dating competition.

In early October, ABC announced an initial cast of 43 diverse bachelorettes who "may" have a chance to meet and date Matt when the show began filming just days later.

A bunch of extra potential bachelorettes were presumably invited to Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Pennsylvania, where Season 16 of The Bachelor filmed, in case anyone tested positive for coronavirus during the pre-production quarantine period.

According to Reality Steve spoiler blogger Steve Carbone, producers executed the same casting method for Clare Crawley's The Bachelorette season at La Quinta Resort & Club in Palm Springs, CA.

ABC went about things in a similar way when 42 bachelors were announced for Clare's The Bachelorette season in July but then only 31 bachelors made her official Season 16 cast, which was released in September.

It appears the following ladies -- who were announced as part of Matt's initial 43-bachelorette cast -- were ultimately dropped from Matt's Night 1 lineup: Brittany Galvin, a 23-year-old from Chicago, IL; Catalina Morales, a 29-year-old from Caguas, Puerto Rico; Kennedy Taylor, a 23-year-old from Washington, DC; and Kim Li, a 28-year-old from Cypress, CA.

Madison Nelson, a 27-year-old from Granger, IN, was also among the 11 women who didn't make the cut in addition to Marie Dolce, a 25-year-old from Sandusky, OH; Michelle Young, a 27-year-old from Woodbury, MN; Nicole Remy, a 25-year-old from Lakewood, WA; Nicole Rovner, a 31-year-old from Wilmette, IL; Ryan Claytor, a 25-year-old from Mechanicsville, VA; and Nitalia "Talie" Lewis, a 24-year-old from Belmont, NC.

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Matt arrived at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort around September 23, when he officially signed off social media.

"See y'all in a few months," Matt wrote in his Instagram Stories at the time, before giving a shout-out to his best friend Tyler Cameron and wishing The Bachelorette alum Hannah Brown a happy birthday.

"@tylerjcameron3 what a crazy 6 months, I love you brother, wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you [and] your mama," Matt continued, referencing Tyler's mother Andrea Cameron, who unexpectedly passed away from a brain aneurysm in March at age 55.

"Oh & I'll be back, with a plus one," the real estate broker and ABC Food Tours founder added.

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Matt's The Bachelor season was likely filmed at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort all season long given it would be risky -- and in some cases, not possible -- to travel around the U.S. and internationally.

The Bachelorette host Chris Harrison has called Matt a "diamond in the rough," saying he's "the kind of guy that The Bachelor was built on."

Matt was initially selected to compete for Clare's heart on The Bachelorette's sixteenth season, but ABC chose to promote him and announce him as the Bachelor prematurely instead.

Matt's The Bachelor casting announcement was made in mid-June on Good Morning America.

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Matt will be the first black The Bachelor star ever. ABC has cast only one black lead, Season 13 The Bachelorette star Rachel Lindsay, in 40 seasons and 18 years of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette prior to Matt.

ABC reality chief Robert Mills told Ryan Seacrest during a late June appearance on On Air with Ryan Seacrest that The Bachelor had already seen a "record-setting pace" of 6,500 applicants for Matt's season by that point, which he called "fantastic."

Below is a listing of the 32 women who will be appearing on Matt's The Bachelor season. Click here to see photos of the women.

- Abigail Heringer, a 25-year-old from Salem, OR

- Alana Milne, a 26-year-old from San Antonio, TX

- Alicia Holloway, a 24-year-old from Morgantown, WV

- Amber Andrews, a 30-year-old from Rialto, CA

- Anna Redman, a 24-year-old from Owatonna, MN

- Bri Springs, a 24-year-old from Owatonna, MN

- Carolyn Vallejo, a 30-year-old from Newburyport, MA

- Casandra Suarez, a 25-year-old from Lodi, CA

- Chelsea Vaughn, a 29-year-old from Marietta, GA

- Corrinne Jones, a 22-year-old from Pomfret, CT

- Emani Curl, a 25-year-old from Albuquerque, NM

- Illeana Pennetto, a 25-year-old from South Salem, NY

- Jessenia Cruz, a 27-year-old from San Antonio, TX

- Kaili Anderson, a 26-year-old from San Diego, CA

- Katie Thurston, a 29-year-old from Lynnwood, WA

- Khaylah Epps, a 28-year-old from Bronx, NY

- Kimberly Courneya, a 28-year-old from Lake Tapps, WA

- Kit Keenan, a 21-year-old from New York, NY

- Kristin Hopkins, a 27-year-old from Virginia Beach, VA

- Lauren Maddox, a 29-year-old from Miami, FL

- Magi Tareke, a 32-year-old from Adwa, Ethiopia

- Mariela "Mari" Pepin, a 24-year-old from Luquillo, Puerto Rico

- Marylynn Sienna, a 28-year-old from Huntington Beach, CA

- MJ Snyder, a 23-year-old from Hudson, OH

- Pieper James, a 24-year-old from Happy Valley, OR

- Rachael Kirkconnell, a 24-year-old from Cumming, GA

- Saneh Ste Clare, a 25-year-old from St. Augustine, FL

- Sarah Trott, a 24-year-old from San Diego, CA

- Serena Chew, a 24-year-old from San Bruno, CA

- Serena Pitt, a 22-year-old from Markham, ON

- Sydney Johnson, a 28-year-old from Franklin, TN

- Victoria Larson, a 27-year-old from New York, NY

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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