Heavy Anticipation is building over the next lead for "The Bachelorette."
The season 28 finale of “The Bachelor” with Joey Graziadei is right around the corner. That means a new season of “The Bachelorette” is on the horizon. Filming for the new “Bachelorette” season typically starts in March, and fans are buzzing over who will lead season 21.
ABC will likely officially announce their pick during the “After the Final Rose” part of Graziadei’s finale. The next “Bachelorette” lead will almost certainly be one of the eliminated ladies from his season.
There are a couple of solid, perhaps likely, options for the network to choose from for the 2024 “Bachelorette” season. Recently, spoiler king Reality Steve shared his take.
Warning! Major spoilers for “The Bachelor” below!
Daisy Kent & Maria Georgas Seem Likely Frontrunners
Graziadei is now down to his final four women, and one more will be eliminated after the hometown dates. ABC’s calendar indicates that “The Bachelor” finale for season 28 will air on March 25. That schedule suggests viewers may be left hanging without an elimination in one of the next couple of episodes.
According to a November 3 Instagram post containing Reality Steve’s spoilers for “The Bachelor,” Maria Georgas was eliminated after her hometown date with Graziadei. Rachael Nance gets eliminated after the Fantasy Suites, leaving Daisy Kent and Kelsey Anderson as Graziadei’s final two.
Until recently, Reality Steve’s spoilers had Kent as Graziadei’s final rose recipient. However, “The Bachelor” fans started questioning that. On February 27, Reality Steve revealed he had it wrong previously. Now, he says Kent is the runner-up and Anderson gets the final rose.
Now that Reality Steve has determined that Kent is not engaged to Graziadei, he believes she is the most likely pick to be the next “Bachelorette.” In his February 27 blog post, he suggested that the way Kent’s “Bachelor” journey ends, “It immediately makes you think that’s the perfect set up for her to be the ‘Bachelorette.'”
He continued, “Is she? Does she want it? I mean, I don’t know anyone in that position who’d turn it down but I just don’t know behind the scenes and if this is what Daisy wants.”
Reality Steve also noted, “Clearly the show would want Daisy in that position. How could they not?” He pointed out she has the largest social media following of any female in the past few years.
In addition, he feels, “The amount of positive publicity this would give to the deaf community, she’s obviously well liked by the public, etc. Seems like a no-brainer, but what do I know?”
‘The Bachelorette’ Lead Will Likely Come From Joey Graziadei’s Final 4
Reality Steve also addressed “The Bachelorette” decision during his February 28 “Daily Roundup” podcast. He suspects that if Kent is not the next “Bachelorette” lead, Georgas likely will. He doesn’t believe Nance is truly in the running.
Kent “Seems to have the biggest storyline” from a production perspective, Reality Steve noted. He continued, “And we know this show casts their leads based on storylines.”
The spoiler guru also noted that typically, ABC chooses someone from the previous “Bachelor” season’s final four ladies. Fans may voice support for some of Graziadei’s other ladies, but in all likelihood, ABC will pick Kent, Georgas, or Nance.
The trend the show has taken over more than 20 seasons means “We’re getting Daisy or Maria as ‘The Bachelorette.’ I don’t think there’s any sort of surprise coming.”
Fans Seem Eager to See Either Georgas or Jenn Tran As ‘Bachelorette’ Lead
“The Bachelorette” fans have been rallying for their favorite ladies from Graziadei’s season for weeks already. In one poll shared in “The Bachelor” subreddit, Georgas was the runaway pick.
Jenn Tran has been another popular pick by fans. As “The Bachelor” fans saw during episode 7, Tran was eliminated just before Graziadei’s hometowns.
She may be popular among fans of the show, but Reality Steve doesn’t believe she’s truly a contender. Finishing outside of Graziadei’s final four puts her at a disadvantage. However, some fans might point out that Katie Thurston and Hannah Brown also finished outside the top four during their respective “Bachelor” seasons.
“My vote is Maria. She’d be funny, fun and entertaining, and less scripted,” one Redditor suggested.
Someone else countered, “Maria is literally perfect for [Bachelor in Paradise] nooooo.”
“I just absolutely love Maria 😂 she’s a mess but I would love to see her as bachelorette,” commented another Redditor. That person continued, “I haven’t watched the bachelor h in n 15+ years until Joey, and I’d watch Maria. I can’t think of anyone else I’d care to watch.”
“I like Daisy and all but we need a good shakeup,” declared another poster. “Maria would bring us Hannah Brown energy. Jen being the first Asian lead would also be a great choice as this franchise still suffers a major diversity problem.”
ABC’s decision will be announced soon, and spoilers regarding “The Bachelorette” lead may emerge before that.