Oh, This? Just Some Spoiler-Supported Theories on Who’s Gonna Be the Next Bachelorette

From Cosmopolitan

The Bachelor isn’t even over yet and the poor souls at ABC are already making plans to film The Bachelorette. Production is set to begin this March. The only thing missing? An actual Bachelorette, lolz.

ABC will likely announce their leading lady during the “After the Final Rose” episode (although this season’s won't be live, so they’ll have to worry about leaks) or on Good Morning America. Either way, they need to pick someone soon and are almost definitely already deeeeep in the casting process.

Although there’s no official-official word yet about who our next Bachelorette is, Reality Steve dropped a majorly compelling spoiler...and then said ABC changed course. Are you ready to see it for yourself? ARE YOU SURE?? I’m serious about the spoilers thing—there are a million of them coming straight at you, so consider yourself warned 😈.

So, yeah, Mr. Steve said the Bachelorette was originally going to be Katie Thurston. Bachelor Nation is O-B-S-E-S-S-E-D with Katie thanks to her zero tolerance policy for drama and her empathy for others. Still, Katie doesn’t make it *that* far in Matt’s season, and ABC has only ever cast one person who placed outside the Top 4 (Hannah Brown).

It sounded like it might still happen, but then Reality Steve dropped this bombshell:

He is, of course, referring to the Chris Harrison and Rachael Kirkconnell racism controversy, which you can read about right this way.

Even with Katie potentially out of the running, there are more predictions to be had. The other names currently floating around the ether include Kelley Flanagan, Abigail Heringer, Michelle Young, and Bri Springs. How do we know? A combination of spoilers, logic, sleuthing, and past Bachelorette trends. Let’s examine the evidence.

Kelley Flanagan

Kelley is a natural fit for Bachelorette. Fans liked her no-f*cks-given attitude on The Bachelor, and she’s managed to stay in the spotlight post-show—meaning there’s built-in audience interest. And more importantly, she hinted that she’s down!

And then there’s the fact that Entertainment Tonight reporter Lauren Zima wrote THIS on one of Kelley’s recent posts:

Ahem, considering that Lauren also happens to be Chris Harrison’s girlfriend, feel free to read allllll the way into that ^. The one caveat? Kelley was just spotted looking all kinds of back together with her ex-boyfriend Peter Weber. If they reunite, she’s obviously out of the running.

Abigail Heringer

Abigail Heringer was recently eliminated from Matt James’s season of The Bachelor. It’s not uncommon for producers to pick someone from The Bachelor’s finalists, and Abigail is already a huge favorite among fans, so she’s definitely a contender:

Michelle Young

Reality Steve reports that Michelle Young is Matt’s runner-up, which makes her an obvious candidate for the next Bachelorette. Fans love Michelle and will be even more invested in her journey by the time the season finale drops. However! Sometimes runners-up aren’t ready to find love again so soon—but don’t forget that The Bachelor finished filming months ago. It’s not like Michelle (or any of Matt’s exes, for that matter) will be hopping from one show to another without a pretty big break.

Bri Springs

Kay so, (a) fans adore Bri Springs:

And (b) she’s in Matt’s top three—which is a super sweet spot for Bachelorette. Historically, the Bachelor’s third runner-up has a good chance at taking the spotlight (Rachel Lindsay, Kaitlyn Bristowe, and Andi Dorfman all came in third), so there’s literally no way Bri isn’t being considered.

ABC has clearly got a great pool of past/current contestants to choose from—and we’ll be updating this story once the next Bachelorette is announced!

You love all the deets on The Bachelor. So do we. Let’s overanalyze them together. ✔️

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