Matt James’ ‘The Bachelor’ 2021 Winner Hasn’t Leaked And There’s A Good Reason Why

For years, in-the-know “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” fans have been treated to behind-the-scenes scoop about weekly eliminations and the names of season winners long before the ABC installments air. It appears that won’t be the case in 2021.

On Monday, ahead of the release of Matt James’ “The Bachelor” installment, notorious show spoiler Reality Steve has dropped a bombshell on his readers: “Things are changing.”

While the Bachelor Nation insider has already spoiled who Matt’s first impression rose winner is, and name-dropped several of his contestants before the network’s cast reveal, "full details" about weekly eliminations via his sources may not be the norm for Season 25.

The reason? The tipster said he simply doesn’t have access to his usual inside scoop. While he didn't provide exact details, ABC has changed up its usual filming format due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Past seasons brought contestants to all corners of the globe for luxurious dates with the lead of the moment, often leading to leaked photos of couples and, as a result, spoilers. Matt’s season was taped remotely at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Pennsylvania and the last "Bachelorette," Tayshia Adams, filmed her entire season at La Quinta Resort & Club in La Quinta, California, late last year.

While viewers may be disappointed by the lack of intel going into the new season (the blogger has advised fans to instead look to weekly episode promos for insight) all is not lost. “It doesn’t mean you won’t have any spoilers,” he explained in a blog post. “I’ll lay out everything I know up to this point.”

According to his findings, Abigail Heringer is still on track to be a fan-favorite, five women will be added to the cast of women following the second rose ceremony, and a season villain is definitely on the horizon. Still, the name of Matt’s winner remains unconfirmed.

In his Monday update, Reality Steve said he’s been told different stories about who secured Matt’s win. “I was told ‘Michelle [Young] and Rachael [Kirkconnell] were final 2, and Rachael wins.’ Well, if you believe everything coming out of the small town of Cumming, GA, then it’s Rachael Kirkconnell,” he reported.

This switch-up is the first time Reality Steve hasn’t been able to provide exact insight into each episode of the dating series since Season 14 of “The Bachelor” in 2010. He correctly reported several winners in years past including Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s show-stopping switch from Becca Kufrin to Lauren Burnham, Colton Underwood's fence jump to save his relationship with Cassie Randolph, and Clare Crawley's premature departure to be with her winner, Dale Moss.

"The Bachelor" kicks off its 2021 season Monday at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.