We have Bachelor superfan Jennifer Love Hewitt to thank for 9-1-1 crossover episode

Jennifer Love Hewitt loves love.

The 9-1-1 star is apparently a major Bachelor fan — and when her former Fox first-responder drama moved over to ABC, the actress had a pitch for her series' co-creator and showrunner Tim Minear.

"The whole crossover episode came about because Jennifer Love Hewitt called me after she went to one of the finales of The Bachelor," Minear tells Entertainment Weekly. "She's a huge fan of The Bachelor and she said, 'Wouldn't it be great if the 118 responded to a call at the Bachelor mansion?'"

And Hewitt got a rose! Or a greenlight, rather. Season 7's fourth episode — “Buck Bothered and Bewildered” (airing Thursday at 8 p.m.) — will feature the most recent Bachelor, Joey Graziadei, and an emergency in the iconic driveway outside the mansion.

"I reached out to ABC and they reached out to the Bachelor people and we got onto a Zoom," Minear says of planning the crossover. "We just started talking about what the possibilities were. The Bachelor people were unbelievably supportive and helpful. They volunteered to show us the ropes about how they make the show, and then when we shot it. We actually brought in the Bachelor crew to shoot the first part of that case, so that it really was The Bachelor. And then we go into 9-1-1 world when they have to call 9-1-1. So that's how it came about. It just seemed like a great idea."

ABC provided a first look at the scene during the finale of Graziadei's season last week (available above). Hewitt's 9-1-1 operator Maddie is giddy, ready to take a call from the mansion, while her fianceé, Chimney (Kenneth Choi), tends to a Bachelor contestant as the Bachelor and host Jesse Palmer look on. Meanwhile, Buck (Oliver Stark) and Eddie (Ryan Guzman) enjoy some attention from some of the other women.

And then on Thursday, after the cruise ship finale, the preview of "Buck Bothered and Bewildered" revealed that Jesse Palmer is the one to call Maddie. Plus, the disaster that brings the 118 to the mansion is a contestant who glued herself to the driveway.

Quite a sticky situation. 9-1-1 airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content:

• Why 9-1-1 boss 'wasn't really interested' in Buck dating death doula Natalia — and what's to come in season 7
• 9-1-1's Oliver Stark and Ryan Guzman on Buck and Eddie's 'open, sensitive, and vulnerable' season 7 dynamic
• Inside the epic 9-1-1 season 7 premiere: The shipwreck, the romances, the drama