Continuing to grow its original programming slate, FreeForm has greenlit a "Bachelor" spin-off series titled BEN AND LAUREN: HAPPILY EVER AFTER starring the series' most recent happily engaged couple, former Bachelor Ben Higgins and fiancée Lauren Bushnell, announced today by Karey Burke, executive vice president, Programming and Development, Freeform.
The new reality series will follow the happy couple as they prepare to walk down the aisle and begin their brand-new life together while navigating the real world after the splendor of "The Bachelor"'s exotic dates and fantasy suites has ended. All the while, Ben will explore getting involved in the political realm and Lauren will try and establish her identity post-"Bachelor." During the show some fan favorites from "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" will stop by to visit and share their own advice on
LIFE AFTER the show. The series is scheduled to air in October.
"Ben and Lauren are the biggest 'Bachelor' couple of the last 10 years," said Burke. "Their romance captured everyone's attention, and we are delighted to continue their story on Freeform."
The series will be produced by Next Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Television. Mike Fleiss, Martin Hilton and Jason Ehrlich will serve as the executive producers. Jack Mori is co-executive producer.
Throughout its run, ABC's "The Bachelor" has consistently been a strong draw among key demographics against stiff competition. During its just-completed 20th season, "The Bachelor" was the No. 1 TV show on Monday night among Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34, beating out competition, including NBC's "The Voice." In fact, season to date, the veteran unscripted show ranks among TV's Top 5 broadcast entertainment series with Adults 18-34. "The Bachelor" was up year to year in Adults 18-34 to a 3-year high and among Teens 12-17 to a 5-year high. During 1Q 2016, "The Bachelor" was the most social broadcast TV series in Total Tweets (2.7 million) and the #1 TV series overall with those tweets creating 469.3 million impressions.
About
FreeForm Part of the Disney|ABC Television Group,
FreeForm is distributed in 94 million homes. The network connects to audiences and goes beyond entertainment with bold original programming and immersive social engagement. The network delivers a unique mix of quality original and acquired series, plus fan favorite movies and the holiday events "13 Nights of Halloween" and "25 Days of Christmas." The
FreeForm app is a service that allows viewers with participating TV subscription services access to 24/7 live viewing of the network, as well as continued on-demand access via a wide array of devices.
About Warner Horizon Television Warner Horizon Television (WHTV) is one of the entertainment industry's leading producers of scripted series for the cable and subscription/on-demand marketplace, and primetime reality series for both network and cable. A division of the Warner Bros. Television Group, WHTV was founded in 2006. Its current scripted programs are "Rizzoli & Isles" and "Animal Kingdom" for TNT, "People of Earth" for TBS, "Pretty Little Liars" and "Famous in Love" for Freeform, "Longmire" and "Fuller House" for Netflix, and "Queen Sugar" for OWN. WHTV's unscripted series are "The Voice" and "Little Big Shots" for NBC, as well as "The Bachelor" franchise - which also includes "The Bachelorette," "Bachelor in Paradise" and "After Paradise" - and "500 Questions" for ABC, among others.
Photo credit: ABC/Rick Rowell*
