All The Bachelor Spoilers About What Happens In London

After the Feb. 13 episode of The Bachelor, a promo for next week showed the women finally getting into a happy groove after the drama of the last several weeks. They’re in London, they’re getting dreamy dates, and as Zach says, “Nothing’s gonna stop us from having such an amazing week.” This obviously means something will, in fact, stop them from having such an amazing week — but what is it, exactly?

In the sneak peek, Jesse Palmer teases that he’s about to drop some “really bad news,” while Zach seems to be in tears while saying, “This week was robbed.” A crucial detail: he says that over Zoom, suggesting that what happens in London on The Bachelor is bad enough to make the show go (partially) remote, like a hybrid workplace. Viewers will obviously find out the reason during the next Bachelor episode — but if you want to find out now, there are reports about what happened. Spoilers ahead!

According to Reality Steve, the most obvious explanation for the Bachelor Zoom session is, indeed, the correct one: Zach gets COVID in London, Reality Steve writes, adding that “production had to be shut down for the rest of the time there.” Despite being sick, Zach reportedly does the rose ceremony over Zoom (hence his suit in the promo).

The Bachelor Nation expert adds that Gabi got the only one-on-one date in London before Zach tested positive, though he isn’t sure if Gabi got sick or not.

This wouldn’t be the first time COVID has interrupted The Bachelor/ette. During Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia’s season, Logan Palmer left the show after testing positive. There was skepticism at the time about whether that was really the reason for his exit, but he addressed the conspiracy theories during an appearance on Talking It Out with Bachelor Nation. “People think I’m like Nicolas Cage from National Treasure with this massive plan,” Logan said. “Guess what, I was just as bummed out and underwhelmed by that exit as everyone else was.”

COVID has affected the show’s format over the past few seasons, too: like limiting travel, or delaying the start of Clare Crawley’s Bachelorette season, which had a ripple effect on the rest of the franchise (as the show hasn’t aired in the usual May slot since Hannah Brown’s season in 2019).

While the franchise is no stranger to working around COVID, Zach’s reported illness would mark the first time a season lead tested positive. It would also be the first time a rose ceremony was conducted over Zoom — well, in America, at least. The Australian version of the show went virtual when lockdowns started in the middle of filming in 2020.

One thing COVID is not responsible for? Changing the broadcast schedule of Zach’s Bachelor season. Yes, Season 27 started later than usual (most Bachelor seasons begin during the first week of the year, while Zach’s did on Jan. 23), but that’s unrelated to his reported illness — because the premiere date was announced back at After the Final Rose in September, before filming even began.