‘The Bachelor’: Emily Maynard says Arie Luyendyk Jr. would be ‘great’ selection

Clearly, the campaign season for “The Bachelor” is not quieting down at all entering this weekend.

Yesterday, we wrote about how Arie Luyendyk Jr. had the support of one of his fellow former Emily Maynard contestants in Sean Lowe, which we personally feel to be a pretty good endorsement. He’s one of the golden boys of this franchise, and we feel like he is not going to go out of the way to recommend someone who he thinks is there just to be famous or kiss 25 women.

Now, Arie has landed yet another important endorsement: Emily herself, who certainly wouldn’t say anything nice publicly about him unless she feels like he could do a good job. He made it all the way to the final two on her season, and they had a strong connection before she opted for Jef Holm instead.

While Emily does tow the line somewhat in her Parade Magazine blog between Chris Soules and Arie for the next leading man of the franchise, we feel like the kind words about the latter are more important in this case thanks to her actual history with him:

“I assumed it was going to be Chris, but I’ve heard rumors they’re considering Arie too! Only because I know Arie, I think he would be a great Bachelor and I know the girls would go crazy for him! Either way, I think they both are great picks, so I’m excited to see who shows up at the mansion when the show returns!”

We imagine that an announcement will be made at some point during “Bachelor in Paradise,” but these two are for sure the favorites. We’re also not ruling out Marquel Martin entirely, but much of his probability will depend on how he comes off in the spin-off premiering Monday.

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Photo: ABC