What We Know About The Bachelorette Season 18: Release Date, Cast, And How To Watch

Season 18 of "The Bachelorette" will be here before we know it. Michelle Young has been tapped as ABC's leading lady for the upcoming season, and fans are super excited. Young's season will be an interesting one, as it will be the first time that there will be two seasons of "The Bachelorette" airing back to back without a season of "The Bachelor" between them, per Cosmopolitan. 

Fans likely already know that Katie Thurston wrapped up her season in August after getting engaged to Blake Moynes. Following Katie's Season 17 run, fans will tune in to watch the ever-popular "Bachelor In Paradise," which features castoffs from the show on the beach as they look to get a second chance at love. After "Paradise" ends, Young will take over on Tuesday nights on the network as she looks to find her perfect match.

Viewers may remember Young as a contestant on Matt James' season of "The Bachelor." According to The Sun, Young is an elementary school teacher from Woodbury, Minnesota. She's also an athlete who played college basketball at Bradley University from 2011 until 2015. Young was one of James' final four women, and obviously made an impression on viewers and ABC execs, who campaigned for her to become the new Bachelorette. So, when can fans expect to see Young's season air?

Cosmopolitan notes that fans will be able to tune into Michelle Young's season of "The Bachelorette" following the end of "Bachelor in Paradise." Season 18 will officially kick off with a premiere on October 19 on ABC. 

For the second season in a row, fans will see former "Bachelorette" leads Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe join forces to host the season following longtime host Chris Harrison's exit from the franchise earlier this year. "It was nice for us to bring women empowerment to the show," Bristowe told Entertainment Tonight after being named as a co-host on Katie Thurston's season. "Just to be a part of the change that's happening in the franchise and moving [it] in the right direction, I think we were both happy to step in and be a part of that," she added.

Young began filming Season 18 of the reality dating series back in July, and there's a sweet reason why. "Michelle did not want to leave her class again to start filming in a few weeks (meaning she'd miss most of the remainder of her school year),"  Reality Steve reported, per Life & Style, "hence the reason she is getting her own season this summer when she's out of school."

Season 18 of "The Bachelorette" is already shaping up to be a good one, as Michelle Young will have her pick of over 30 new guys, all of whom are hoping to win her heart as well as her hand in marriage (via Women's Health). 

The cast includes Alec Thompson, a civil and environmental engineer; Garrett Aida from Salt Lake City, Utah; Jomarri Gable a personal trainer from Portland; Nayte Olukoya, a Canadian accountant; and Olumide Onajide, a field systems analyst from New Jersey. Young will also meet Trevor Abrams, a baseball hitting instructor; Erc Tai from Bridgewater, New Jersey; neuroscientist and podcast host Pardeep Singh; Clayton Echard, an orthopedic sales rep; Mollique Johnson from Jamaica; Chris Sutton from New Orleans; and songwriter Casey Woods.

But wait, there's more. Young's crop of men also includes California boy Ryan Fox; firefighter/EMT PJ Henderson; football player Bryan Witzmann; sports enthusiast Brandon J., and brand manager Brandon K., as well as Brett Parker from Houston, Christopher Gallant from Canada, Daniel Tully from Austin, and personal trainer Edward Naranjo. The men rounding out Young's season are Jamie Skaar, Joe Coleman, Jack Russell, Joel Wilkinson, Leroy Arthur, LT Murray IV, Martin Gelbspan, Peter Izzo, Rick Leach, Rodney Mathews, Romeo Alexander, and Spencer Williams.

The contestants come from many locations and have many backgrounds. However, only one can walk away with Young at the end of the season, and fans can't wait to find out which guys will make a lasting impression on the new "Bachelorette" star.

While Monday nights are traditionally the nights that fans settle in to watch "The Bachelor" and "Bachelorette," Season 18 will air on Tuesday nights instead. This is likely due to scheduling on ABC (perhaps the new season of "Dancing With The Stars.") 

Fans will be able to tune in each Tuesday night at 8 p.m. as they watch Young look for love on the reality series. The show will also be available on ABC.com or On-Demand, per Cut The Cord. For those who may miss an episode on Tuesday night, Hulu has you covered. They'll stream each new episode of the show the following day. Meanwhile, TV Guide reports that new episodes of "The Bachelorette" can also be found on iTunes, Amazon Prime, Google Play, and VUDU.

Fans won't want to miss a minute of the show. Season 18 of "The Bachelorette" is already highly anticipated and will have everyone talking around for days after. Following Katie Thurston's dramatic season, as well as the upcoming fan-favorite "Bachelor in Paradise," viewers will certainly get their fill of the franchise before the original series, "The Bachelor" makes its return in 2022. Michell Young's season of "The Bachelorette" begins airing on Tuesday, October 19, so set those reminders!