Tayshia Adams was unable to co-host the live finale of ABC’s The Bachelorette with star Michelle Young after being exposed to COVID-19.
Ahead of Monday’s three-hour show, which filmed in Los Angeles, the former Bachelorette star announced she was recently exposed to the virus in New York City, where cases are surging due to the highly contagious Omicron variant, and didn’t travel “out of an abundance of caution” to ensure safety on set.
“Miss being with my @BacheloretteABC family tonight!!” she wrote on Twitter. “Tonight is your night @michelleyoung. I’m here in NYC rooting for you as always!!” Adams continued to update viewers through her Instagram Stories.
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Miss being with my @BacheloretteABC family tonight!! Was recently exposed here in NYC and out of abundance of caution, I didn’t travel to ensure all are safe on set! ♥️ Tonight is your night @michelleyoung, I’m here in NYC rooting for you as always!! 😘
— Tayshia Adams (@tayshia) December 22, 2021
Her co-host for the past two seasons, fellow former Bachelorette star Kaitlyn Bristowe, kicked off the night solo to announce Adams’ absence. “I am alone up here tonight,” she told viewers and a live audience, who were unmasked, to open the show. “Nothing like doing live TV solo, what could go wrong? Everything could go wrong! But, in all seriousness, Tayshia was recently exposed to COVID, so unfortunately she can’t be with us tonight. So Tayshia, we — and I — are really going to miss you.”
Two commercial breaks later, Bristowe called attention to the audience now being masked and shared that in response to real-time chatter online, the audience members had all tested negative and would remain masked for the remainder of the show “to exercise additional caution.”
A rep at Warner Horizon, the producers of the ABC franchise, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the audience members are fully vaccinated and “have gone through rigorous testing.”
Adams and Bristowe have co-hosted 2021’s two cycles of The Bachelorette — first with Katie Thurston in the spring and now with Young — and stepped in following longtime host Chris Harrison’s departure after a controversial Bachelor season in early 2021. Jesse Palmer will be hosting the 2022 season of The Bachelor, which returns in January with star Clayton Echard, a contestant from Young’s season.
Adams, who was one of two leads during the 2020 Bachelorette cycle, ended her season engaged to winner Zac Clark. The pair, however, recently called off their engagement. During a recent appearance at the pretaped Men Tell All reunion show, Adams said she was “heartbroken” over the breakup. “We tried really hard, and I still love him very much. And I’m not sure that the future holds,” she said during the early December special.
Monday’s Bachelorette and After the Final Rose live finale special comes during a fluid time for live events in Hollywood amid Omicron, which became the dominant COVID-19 variant Monday. The AFI Awards, the BAFTA Tea Party and the Palm Springs International Film Festival’s awards gala were among the in-person events already canceled or postponed as the town gears up for awards season. Several live theatrical productions, including those in London’s West End, New York City’s Broadway district and throughout Los Angeles, have also canceled holiday season performances.
