The Bachelor (American TV series) season 27

The twenty-seventh season of The Bachelor premiered on January 23, 2023. This season features 26-year-old Zach Shallcross, an Oracle sales executive from Anaheim Hills, California.

Shallcross finished in third place while exclusively pursuing Rachel Recchia on the nineteenth season of The Bachelorette featuring Recchia and Gabby Windey.

The season concluded on March 27, 2023, with Shallcross choosing to propose to 27-year-old travel nurse Kaity Biggar. They moved in together in Austin, Texas in July 2023 and plan to marry in October 2025.

Casting and contestants
On September 14, 2022, it was reported that Shallcross was the frontrunner for the role. He was officially announced on September 20, 2022, during the live The Bachelorette season 19 finale. Shallcross then met his first five contestants, Bailey, Brianna, Brooklyn, Cat, and Christina.

Notable contestants include Christina Mandrell, who is the niece of country music singer Barbara Mandrell; Miss South Carolina 2018 Davia Bunch; Miss Florida World 2019 Lekha Ravi; and Ariel Frenkel, who is the ex-girlfriend of actor Michael Vlamis.

Filming and development
The season was delayed by three weeks from its standard first week of January start, to avoid a potential clash with ABC's coverage of Monday Night Football.

Filming began on September 26, 2022, in Agoura Hills, California. On October 22, the show was seen filming in Tallinn, Estonia. This season also includes visits to The Bahamas; London, England; and Budapest, Hungary, with filming concluding in Krabi, Thailand in mid-November.

Rapper Latto, former contestants Courtney Robertson and Victoria Fuller, retired NFL players Shawne Merriman and Antonio Gates, and band UB40 made guest appearances this season.

While filming in London, Shallcross tested positive to COVID-19 and was forced to self-isolate in a hotel quarantine. All of the remaining dates got cancelled and both the cocktail party and rose ceremony shifted into a remote format with simulcast via Zoom. This had previously occurred on the eighth season of The Bachelor Australia. After arriving in Estonia, contestant Greer Blitzer also received a positive Covid test. Unlike The Bachelorette 19, where contestant Logan Palmer was eliminated after testing positive, Blitzer remained in isolation until she returned a negative result the following week.

Contestants
32 potential contestants were revealed on September 23, 2022.

The final cast of 30 women was announced on January 4, 2023.

In the second week, season 23 contestant Tahzjuan Hawkins asked to join the cast, but Shallcross declined.

The Bachelorette
Charity Lawson was chosen as the lead for season 20 of The Bachelorette.

Bachelor in Paradise
Season 9

Becca Serrano, Brooklyn Willie, Cat Wong, Davia Bunch, Genevie Mayo, Greer Blitzer, Jess Girod, Katherine Izzo, Kylee Russell, Mercedes Northup, and Olivia Lewis returned for season 9 of Bachelor in Paradise. Blitzer, Willie, and Wong were eliminated in week 1. Serrano quit in week 3. Bunch and Mayo were eliminated in week 3. Girod split from Tanner Courtad, Northup split from Jordan Vandergriff, and Lewis split from Michael Barbour in week 5. Russell left in a relationship with Aven Jones in week 5. Izzo got engaged to John Henry Spurlock in week 5.

Dancing with the Stars
Lawson participated in season 32 of Dancing with the Stars where she partnered with Artem Chigvintsev. They finished in fourth place.

Call-out order

 * The contestant received America's first impression rose
 * The contestant received Zach's first impression rose
 * The contestant received a rose during a date
 * The contestant received a rose during a date
 * The contestant was eliminated
 * The contestant was eliminated outside the rose ceremony
 * The contestant was eliminated during a date
 * The contestant was temporarily removed from the competition
 * The contestant quit the competition
 * The contestant won the competition

Controversy
Contestant Greer Blitzer faced controversy shortly after the season premiere after tweets of her defending blackface were uncovered, continuing the trend of contestants with racist social media histories being cast in the franchise. On January 24, 2023, Blitzer issued an apology for her past behavior.

The incident was further addressed during the Women Tell All special on March 14, 2023, with host Jesse Palmer acknowledging the franchise's failings to adequately address serious topics such as racism in the past. Blitzer also confirmed that she was educating herself on the history of blackface and had met with Dr. Kira Banks, a psychologist and diversity consultant.