Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia are both leading the upcoming season of the show.
Jesse Palmer is entering uncharted waters on the latest season of The Bachelorette. ET caught up with the franchise host on the beaches of Mexico as he readied himself to host Bachelor in Paradise, and he told ET all about the upcoming two-lead season of The Bachelorette, which is set to premiere later this month.
"We don't really know how this is going to work itself out," Jesse said of having both Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia serve in the leading role. "There's two Bachelorettes, there's a lot of guys, and they have to sort of navigate that. Rachel and Gabby have the power to make some of their own decisions."
"I think in certain moments [they will] really veer off course and do things their own way," he added. "There’s no set formula. There are no rules. I think that’s something that Bachelor Nation and fans at home are going to see. A lot of things are going to happen that have never happened before."
While Jesse wouldn't share details about how specifically Rachel and Gabby will go about dating the same 32 men, he assured viewers that the women will "absolutely [be] supporting each other more so than competing," something that some franchise alums have expressed concern about.
"This is a very unique situation and there’s a lot of relationships that Rachel and Gabby have to navigate at the same time, which at times can can pose challenges," he said. "But I think the important thing at the end is that they both have their sights set on finding love, hopefully being engaged at the end of this journey, and it is quite the ride to get there."
As for the men themselves, Jesse teased that "some guys kinda go into it knowing who they want to date right away and who they're hoping to end up with, and there's some other men that literally have no idea and they're trying to date simultaneously."
"That’s a part of it. When do you feel like you need to make a commitment and how long can you try to juggle both women dating at the same time? There's no real clear defined answer for all of us -- myself included, producers included -- as we were kinda navigating through this season," he said. "A lot of times there were situations that came up that we've never encountered and that's sort of the beauty of this season."
The "fresh and new" season will be something viewers have "never seen before," Jesse promised.
"This is an entirely new format. Two Bachelorettes trying to find love, two different people that are great friends, that come from different backgrounds, but are so deserving of finding love," he said. "All the relationship challenges and stuff that they're gonna have to navigate to get to that point is going to be really interesting and unique. They're going to make a lot of decisions that have never been made before in the franchise’s history, but it’s all for one goal and one goal in mind, which is to obviously find love."
The fact that the first of its kind season is happening with Rachel and Gabby at the helm is the cherry on top for Jesse.
"I’m so excited for Rachel and Gabby. Having been there and sort of experienced what happened during Clayton [Echard]'s season, I just don't think there's two more deserving women to have this opportunity to find love," he told ET. "They're both such incredible people and the big reason why they're doing this together is because they supported each other through that season."
"I think people at home are going to get a chance to see some of that as they try to navigate their journeys on The Bachelorette," Jesse added. "I'm so excited for them I can't even tell you."
Season 19 of The Bachelorette will premiere Monday, July 11 on ABC.
RELATED CONTENT:
