ABC is still in denial that every citizen of Bachelor Nation knows that Clayton is the next Bachelor, but that doesn't mean the network isn't ready to start teasing Season 26. On Monday, Nov. 1, ABC announced that The Bachelor Season 26 will premiere Jan. 3, 2021, meaning fans will have barely a month to recover from their post-Bachelorette high before diving into another journey to find love.

To be clear, Clayton hasn't officially been announced as the next Bachelor, but based on reports, photos, and this very damning photo evidence from the Bachelor host Jesse Palmer — he posted a photo with Clayton with "#TheBachelor" right there in the caption! — it's a foregone conclusion. He might be competing for Michelle's heart on television right now, but in real life, Clayton's been spotted filming at the Bachelor mansion and traveling around the country. At this point, the only ones ABC is fooling are the ones who don't actually care about The Bachelor at all.

With Clayton's season premiering so close to Michelle's, it leaves a handful of months potentially without any Bachelor franchise content at all! Or so we thought. According to blogger Reality Steve, Season 26 is just the first of two Bachelor seasons that will air in 2022. On Oct. 26, he tweeted that another Bachelor season was in the works, supposedly to be filmed in February and air in May (aka when Katie's Bachelorette season aired). It's believed that a Bachelorette season will follow in October/November, following the schedule of Michelle's current season. And presumably there will be time for a quick trip to Paradise in between.

If Reality Steve is right, that means 2022 could be the most jam-packed Bachelor year yet. I sure hope the world has enough roses to keep up.

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