'The Bachelor' Gets a January Date

By Rick Porter, Zap2It.com | November 5, 2008

Jason Mesnick of 'The Bachelor'

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ABC will also unveil 'True Beauty' after the new year

ABC will search for love and beauty on Monday nights in January with the latest incarnation of "The Bachelor" and a new show from Tyra Banks and Ashton Kutcher.

The network has set a Monday, Jan. 5 premiere date for the 13th installment of "The Bachelor," starring previous "Bachelorette" rejectee Jason Mesnick. It will be joined that night by the debut of "True Beauty," the top-secret beauty pageant show produced by Banks ("America's Next Top Model") and Kutcher ("Beauty and the Geek").

Mesnick, a 32-year-old single father, was a fan favorite on "The Bachelorette" over the summer and was chose as the next Bachelor after DeAnna Pappas rejected him in the July 7 finale. (Pappas and the guy she did pick, Jesse Csincsak, recently broke up.)

"The Bachelor" will begin its season with a two-hour premiere at 8 p.m. ET Jan. 5. The show will take up its regular 90-minute spot the following week, with comedy "Samantha Who?" staying put at 9:30. "True Beauty" will air at 10 p.m. Mondays.

Details about the latter show remain a closely guarded secret. We know it involves a beauty pageant and contestants living together, and now we know the title, but that's it.