Even Jesse Palmer didn’t know how season 19 of The Bachelorette would work when ABC named Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia joint leads.
“When it was announced that they were gonna be the Bachelorettes back at After the Final Rose, [I thought], ‘Never done this before. How are they gonna be dating the guys? Who’s going on dates? How do they navigate this? This is all completely unprecedented,’” the 43-year-old former quarterback exclusively said on Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast ahead of the Monday, July 11, premiere. “Gabby and Rachel deserve a ton of credit because they really took control of this thing. They made up their own rules along the way, took charge.”
Jesse Palmer, Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia. MediaPunch/Shutterstock; Tammie Arroyo/Shutterstock
Jesse noted that the two women were “faced with a lot of very difficult circumstances and situations” and had “a lot of very difficult conversations [that] needed to be had” during the season.
“But at the end of the day, I think it was their friendship and their support of each other that really helped them through it all — magically, somehow,” he continued. “And I don’t know how [but] this whole thing just worked and I cannot wait for Bachelor Nation to see how it all unfolds because it’ll be like unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.”
The host admitted that there were “a lot of different scenarios that we could never anticipate” and that Gabby and Rachel “could not prepare for,” including potentially falling in love with the same guy or the same guy having feelings for both women.
“It’s two love stories, two completely different journeys, [but] people are gonna need a notebook — and take notes — to try to follow who’s dating who [and] what’s going on,” he said. “Because it’s literally double the love, double the drama and double the fun.”
When asked how the journey ends, Jesse (naturally) played coy.
“It’s possible [they both get engaged]. You would have to ask Gabby and Rachel and I’d be curious to see what they’d be willing to share with you, but what I can say is that their journeys are nothing short of remarkable,” he teased.
While the upcoming installment of the franchise will mark the first time two women will be handing out roses throughout the entire season, Jesse said there’s a potential that two men could share the gig going forward.
“I think it’s a great question. I think it’s totally possible,” he said. “I think when a show’s been on for 20 years, I think you have to constantly be trying to find ways to reinvent things. And I think the show [has] done an outstanding job of that over the years. And it will be interesting to see how responds Bachelor Nation responds to this. I can’t wait for it, I think they’re gonna love it. And so we’ll see kind of where this leads down the road.”
The Bachelorette premieres on ABC Monday, July 11, at 8 p.m. ET. For more from Jesse, including details of filming season 8 of Bachelor in Paradise, listen to “Here for the Right Reasons.”
