Do you only slog through The Bachelor and The Bachelorette to be rewarded with margaritas by the pool and crabs on the beach each summer? Well, friends, if so, I've got some bad news for you. It seems like there could be no new Bachelor in Paradise season in 2022. There's been no updates from ABC about the best that the franchise has to offer, but the premiere date for Gabby and Rachel's Bachelorette season should definitely have BiP fans worried.

Jesse Palmer may not know what The Bachelorette dual season is going to look like yet, but one thing ABC revealed is that the premiere date is Monday, July 11. As my colleague Allison Hunt outlined, that's not really the traditional airing schedule for recent Bachelorette seasons. Ignoring the Clare/Tayshia season, which was delayed due to COVID-19, the last few Bachelorette seasons have premiered in late May and early June, after starting filming in March.

Ignoring why there's the delay in airing Rachel and Gabby's season, there's also the fact that BiP has always premiered in August. But Rachel and Gabby's season will still be on then. Unless they move up Bachelor in Paradise to be a spring show and only use the contestants from Michelle and Clayton's seasons (which doesn't seem likely), is Paradise being delayed? Or, far worse, canceled?

As CinemaBlend reported, Reality Steve posited after Season 7 that Paradise may be done, pointing to how ratings were low for the 2021 season. There's also been some gossip on the fate of BiP from Zachary Reality. He posted on TikTok that he had been sent an anonymous message that said there would be no BiP this summer. In an update after The Bachelorette premiere date was announced, the reality TV gossip reporter said contestants have been asked about their Paradise interest but speculated that perhaps producers only asked to hide the fact that BiP is canceled this year.

There's always the chance that Paradise could air later in the fall. That might push back a Bachelor premiere (which has been premiering in January for the last 14 seasons), but I don't mind waiting another month or two if that means viewers get BiP. (Honestly, the franchise could dump the whole flagship show and I'd be fine.) There could also be a different Bachelor spinoff since before there was Paradise, there was Bachelor Pad. So until ABC gives fans the official scoop on the status of Paradise, I'm not going to worry and distract myself by celebrating Rachel and Gabby.

Images: Craig Sjodin/ABC