After two years off the air, “The Bachelor” is returning for its 30th season with a brand new face: NFL player Sam Hartman will be looking for love on the iconic ABC reality dating series beginning on March 21.
Hartman is a quarterback for the Washington Commanders, who is also an alumnus of the Wake Forest and Notre Dame football teams, where he set the Atlantic Coast Conference records for most career touchdown passes and 300-yard passing games. He also made an appearance in Season 2 of the Netflix docuseries “QB1: Beyond the Lights.” Hartman is originally from Charlotte, N.C.
Hartman’s casting marks something of a relaunch for the “Bachelor” franchise. When Season 30 premieres, it will have been two years since the last iteration of the flagship series, which starred Grant Ellis, and once year since the failed return of “The Bachelorette,” which was pulled from the air last-minute amid a domestic violence scandal between star Taylor Frankie Paul and her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen. The most recent entry into the franchise was “Bachelor in Paradise” Season 10, which aired in the summer of 2025.
Also of note for “Bachelor” fans is the return of another scandal-wracked personality: Chris Harrison, who hosted all versions of “The Bachelor” until 2021, when he received major backlash for defending former contestant Rachel Kirkconnell from allegations of racism surrounding an antebellum plantation-themed party she had attended in the past. Harrison is now hosting a new dating series called “The Vow,” which follows contestants seeking a “traditional marriage,” on Fox Nation.
“The Bachelor” is produced by Warner Horizon Unscripted Television. Executive producers include Scott Teti, Jason Ehrlich and Andy Frank.
Source: variety.com
