‘The Bachelorette’ ‘close’ to picking Desiree Hartsock (or other Sean Lowe alum)

DesireeWhen are we going to find out who the next “Bachelorette” is going to be? As we have already reported, the decision is going to be coming pretty quickly during the upcoming “The Bachelor: After the Final Rose” special in just over a week. When you have that sort of a quick timetable to make a decision, it is pretty safe to assume that executive producer Mike Fleiss is hard at work getting the next leading lady locked in.

Based on what Chris Harrison said during a conference call this week (per Zap2It), there are really only a few more details to be worked out before the woman set to hand out roses is set in stone:

“I don’t know if it’s 100% a done deal … I know as of the taping of the ‘Women Tell All,’ which was last Friday, we were still discussing who it was going to be. It’s close to being a done deal because obviously we’re going to announce it in a couple weeks but it’s not 100% yet.”

It has been long believed that Desiree Hartsock is the frontrunner for the gig given how far she made it on Sean Lowe’s season (and also the way in which she was sent home), but some other ladies currently listed as candidates include Sarah Herron, AshLee Frazier, or Lesley Murphy. Neither Catherine Giudici nor Linday Yenter is really receiving much buzz at all right now about getting the lead role, but this should not be too much of a surprise; out of the last two “Bachelor” contestants who immediately became “The Bachelorette” (so not including Emily Maynard), Ashley Hebert and Ali Fedotowsky each finished outside of the top two.

Harrison had the following to say specifically about Desiree’s appeal:

“Dez is that young, attractive Katie Holmes-looking girl next door. Kind of what this show was built on, finding that diamond in the rough … the way she comes off on the ‘Women Tell All’ makes herself a great candidate.”

If you want to find out where Sean’s final two contestants currently stand, be sure to check out the new rankings over here.

Photo: ABC

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