The latest iteration of The Bachelor franchise is speeding up the process for impatient viewers who don’t want to wait a dreaded nine weeks for the will-they, won’t-they results of The Bachelor—and judging by a preview released Tuesday, the series will be anything but ordinary.
On Tuesday, June 12, fans of the upcoming series, The Proposal, got a glimpse at the newest member of the reality TV dating scener via a clip of the first two minutes of the show. “In today’s world, people look for love in all kinds of ways, but this is a new one,” host and former Bachelor Jesse Palmer tells viewers. “What you’re about to see has never been attempted before on television.”
He later provides a disclaimer about the series by saying, “This is not a game.”
The premise is simple: one gentleman, who will remain largely anonymous throughout the course of the evening, will “meet” ten women vying to be his wife. By the end of the night and each episode, the selected contestant may or may not get engaged to the mystery man.
Jeweler to the stars and longtime Bachelor mainstay Neil Lane, naturally, is waiting in the wings for his moment to shine, and with a quick smile and grin for the cameras, he shows off his grand assortment of diamond rings waiting to be selected.
The show next profiles heir bachelor-to-be, a 29-year-old police officer from Bakersfield, Calif., who will sit in a “pod” onstage where he can hear and see everything, but which will also keep him hidden from the women competing for his affections.
“I honestly believe that love could be waiting for me,” he says in a voiceover, “and I hope that there is somebody there that I can spend the rest of my life with.” The bachelor also tells the studio audience that six years prior, he had gotten into a bad motorcycle accident and lost his right leg.
“It’s changed my outlook on life, and it’s shown me that you do not take anything for granted,” he says. “Life is short.”
See what else he has to say, and how the first episode plays out, on ABC June 18 at 10 p.m. ET.