The Bachelor's Matt James Is Ready for His Close-Up in Dashing New Poster: 'A Matt Made in Heaven'

The Bachelor season 25 will premiere on Jan. 4

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Published on December 7, 2020 12:30 PM

Matt James is ready to steal some hearts.

PEOPLE has the exclusive first look at The Bachelor star's new promo poster from the upcoming 25th season, which shows 28-year-old James looking beyond dapper in a blue suit.

The season's punny tagline — "A Matt Made in Heaven" — accompanies the art, which sees the real-estate broker loosening his tie as he seductively raises one eyebrow.

James (who was originally included in Clare Crawley's cast for The Bachelorette) was announced as the newest Bachelor back in June, and ABC Entertainment's Rob Mills previously teased his season as unpredictable.

Matt James The Bachelor — Matt James in *The Bachelor*. ABC

"Matt is not on [this] season of The Bachelorette, and the reason why we take leads from a previous season is because you know them so well and we can predict which person he might like or not," he told Variety in October. "But we just didn't know at all, so it was really fun to watch him interact with everyone."

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The historical season, which features James as the franchise's first Black male lead, began filming in September at a resort in Pennsylvania.

Good Morning America announced James' role with a statement from ABC saying they are "privileged to have Matt" as the first Black Bachelor.

"We know we have a responsibility to make sure the love stories we're seeing onscreen are representative of the world we live in, and we are proudly in service to our audience," the statement read. "This is just the beginning, and we will continue to take action with regard to diversity issues on this franchise. We feel so privileged to have Matt as our first Black Bachelor and we cannot wait to embark on this journey with him."

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic — and much like the current season of The Bachelorette — the Pennsylvania resort was completely rented out, and the entire cast and crew underwent a two-week quarantine after arriving. Production on James' season was set to be complete around Thanksgiving.

RELATED VIDEO: The Bachelor's Matt James Admits He's Never Been in Love in First Teaser for New Season

ABC released a first look at James' upcoming season of The Bachelor last month, which included steamy kissing scenes, deep chats with host Chris Harrison and of course, a whole lot of drama.

"Matt is a delicious man," one contestant noted in the clip as James admitted to Harrison, 49, that he has never been in love before. "My job is to change that," the host responded.

The Bachelor premieres Jan. 4 on ABC.