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On The Bachelor finale (March 24, 2025), Grant Ellis got engaged to Juliana Pasquarosa, while finalist Litia Garr was left heartbroken as the runner-up. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter (March 25), Grant took responsibility for ending things with Litia, admitting the challenge of dating multiple people and acknowledging her hurt feelings.
“When you’re the Bachelor, there’s a lot of wrong you can do because it’s an uncomfortable situation dating 25 people,” stated Grant.
Having experienced a public breakup himself on The Bachelorette with Jenn Tran, he understood Litia's emotions.
The Bachelor's Grant Ellis shares external pressure he faced as a non-white lead
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The finale also included an announcement about the upcoming season of Bachelor in Paradise, which will feature contestants from The Golden Bachelor and Bachelorette. While season 29 of The Bachelor came to a conclusion in a typical fashion, there have been changes behind the scenes when it came to the franchise's production team.
Grant, the 31-year-old day trader from New Jersey, opened up about the changes in the interview and shared that he felt supported during the live finale. He had previously experienced a live broadcast during the Women Tell All special on March 10. Grant mentioned that the producers guided him through the After the Final Rose event.
“They told me what [ATFR] was going to be like and the reality of it, and I went in there prepared, as prepared as I could be,” said Grant.
New showrunners Claire Freeland, Bennett Graebner, and Jason Ehrlich took over after Mike Fleiss left in 2023. As the second-ever Black male lead in the long-running reality show, Ellis also faced high expectations. Overall, the team aimed to improve the show and diversify it for the better. However, Freeland and Graebner left the franchise 10 days before Ellis' finale aired.
Prior to their departure, allegations of a toxic work environment surfaced as former staff members made these claims anonymously. Freeland and Graebner ultimately denied the allegations. Following this report, co-executive producers Michael Margolis and Keely Booth also left the franchise as Margolis is married to Freeland. The current leadership of the show has not been announced by ABC and Warner Bros.
Grant Ellis said that he faced external pressure as a non-white lead on The Bachelor. Previously, this is an issue that even Matt James has addressed being the first male Black lead. Grant felt scrutinized more closely than other leads and believed that his words and actions were judged more harshly because he was different from what audiences were used to.
“There’s an extra level of scrutiny or pressure that you feel when you’re a lead of color. Maybe it’s the way you talk or the way that you say something," expressed Grant.
Grant said that he wanted to find love on the show, but he felt that people made assumptions about him based on his appearance and background. Before appearing on the show, he was in a long-term relationship and practiced celibacy for a year. Grant expressed that understanding and love can overcome these superficial differences. He also mentioned that he tried to stay true to himself throughout the show's run.
The season finale of The Bachelor aired on March 24, 2025, on ABC.
