This Is Where The 2021 Season Of The Bachelorette Is Actually Filmed
"The Bachelorette" is back for its 18th season, with Michelle Young – who viewers met on Matt James' season — as the lead. The season is something of a return to form for the long-running reality TV franchise, as it's the first season of the show since the start of the pandemic to travel (four seasons of "The Bachelorette," "The Bachelor," and "Bachelor in Paradise" were filmed before the current season, but they were all confined to a single location).
But that's not to say everything in Bachelor Nation is back to normal. The show has not yet returned to Bachelor Mansion, the Los Angeles-area private residence where the first few episodes of a "Bachelor" or "Bachelorette" season are typically shot. Instead, the season premiere, which aired Tuesday night, was shot in a hotel with a pair of dramatic staircases and apparently nowhere to shoot where the lights could be turned down.
Previous COVID-era seasons have been filmed in California's Coachella Valley, in Pennsylvania, in New Mexico, and at the Mexican resort where "Bachelor in Paradise" is typically filmed. For Michelle's season, the show has returned to the Coachella Valley, though not at the same resort where Clare and Tayshia's season was filmed last year.
Big dates in Minneapolis
Michelle's season is starting out at The Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa in Indian Wells, California, according to Stylecaster. It's a massive complex with multiple pools, 36 holes of golf, and a farm-to-table restaurant.
Once Michelle is done there, the show will hit the road. According to Reality Steve, the series will head to Michelle's hometown of Minneapolis, with the cast staying at the Marquette Hotel. Promos for the season have shown Michelle going on dates at the U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, and Target Field, where the MLB's Minnesota Twins play. In a return to tradition, Reality Steve reports that the season will have dates in the final four guys' hometowns. We won't say where, because that's a spoiler.
According to Stylecaster, the Fantasy Suite dates and the Final Rose ceremony take place at the Iberostar Hotel in Punta de Mita, Mexico, which is down the road from the Playa Escondida Resort where "Bachelor in Paradise" films. It's the first "Bachelor" or "Bachelorette" finale filmed internationally since the start of the pandemic.
Michelle's journey for love continues Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC, with episodes available to stream on Hulu.