In the best news of the year, entrepreneur, real estate broker, and community organization founder Matt James has been confirmed as the new Bachelor (opens in new tab), the first black lead in franchise history. James, who is a close friend of Tyler Cameron's and whom you may have seen all over Cameron's Instagram, is known in the Bachelorverse for being a contestant on Claire Crowley's "Bachelorette" season (opens in new tab). Will James appear on both The Bachelorette and The Bachelor?

So the short answer is no. Entertainment Weekly (opens in new tab) frames the news as he was once a contestant on Crowley's season. And a statement from ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke seems to be quite candid:

"Matt has been on our radar since February, when producers first approached him to join Bachelor Nation as part of Claire's season, It was on our radar. When filming did not go as planned (due to the pandemic), we were given time to get to know Matt and we all agreed that he would be the perfect Bachelor. We know we have a responsibility to make sure that the love story we are seeing on screen is representative of the world we live in and proudly serve our audience. This is just the beginning and we will continue to take action on issues of diversity in this franchise. We are so honored to have Matt as our first black Bachelor and can't wait to embark on this journey with him."

Also, this from Reality Steve:

So it seems pretty set. Also, here's a thought: there's no way he'll be on Crowley's season. He already has a Bachelor job lined up. And what the producers care about is not spoiling the ending. So the first time we see him is in the pre-show interview and during the show.

So yeah. Then there's another reason the two didn't hit it off: during the pre-shooting hiatus, Crowley wrote: "If you're doing interviews and making cameo accounts before you're on my season, ...... That's the wrong reason: ....... #dontwasteyourtime (opens in new tab)" Many fans took this as a veiled attack on James, who had a cameo account to raise money for those affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

Crawley later retracted her remarks and said her comments were not aimed at anyone in particular, but the damage was done. Crawley wrote: "It was about more than one man and was a general thought I had while we sat here in a real crisis where someone (everyone)'s time + sincerity is so heavily valued."

Tyler Cameron later said of the matter: "She kinda poked at my son, that tweet... The funny thing is, Matt had a cameo, and the guy she picked also had a cameo. So it's funny." (James himself, however, is super classy about it, writing on Instagram that he is excited about Crowley's season and intends to channel it. (Open in new tab) [17]