‘The Bachelor’ with Nick Viall finally scores January 2 premiere date

For those of you wondering, the search for Nick Viall’s one true love — or at least the search with him in the leading role — is now set in stone.

ABC confirmed earlier today the speculation that their latest season of “The Bachelor” would begin on Monday, January 2 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. We write this article with a “go figure” tone mostly because of the fact that the show almost always starts on the first Monday of the new year, provided that this Monday is not New Year’s Day. This gives the show a chance to air its season in full before “Dancing with the Stars,” and also capitalize on how there is very little else in the way of notable competition during the time in which it airs.

Nick was announced as the series lead a little bit earlier in the year, and at the time it dropped jaws from sea to sea. He’s the most controversial lead since Brad Womack 2.0 at least in terms of when he was cast, and we love the choice given that he’s honest, emotional, and he’s not going to put up with nonsense. While Luke Pell or Chase McNary probably would’ve done just fine in the role, we probably would have a season that was fairly carbon-copy to others we’ve seen over the years. Giving the reigns to Nick gives the show a chance to stretch itself a little bit, which probably is ironic to say given that we’re talking about a dude who’s getting set to appear on his fourth major season of the franchise.

We imagine that the contestants will be announced come January, and at that point, we’ll start our traditional of providing merciless spotlights on all of them, who they are, and precisely how they’re going to fare. Early prediction? It’ll look and feel almost like every other season, even if Nick is older than most other recent Bachelors.

You can see the latest preview for Nick’s season over here. Trust us — it’s really corny. (Photo: ABC.)