‘The Bachelor’ spoilers: Who is joining Chris Soules as surprising frontrunner?

Ready to be surprised by some shocking news related to “The Bachelor“? Well, we at least feel like it’s shocking, based on the people we’ve considered to be favorites.

According to E! News, there is really only one competitor that Chris Soules has for the gig … and it’s Arie Luyendyk Jr.? You can’t make this sort of stuff up, people. The source claims that the show has filmed some scenes with Arie in Arizona to get a sense for what he would be like as the star of the show.

If you don’t remember Arie or didn’t watch “The Bachelorette” two seasons ago, he was the IndyCar driver who made it all the way to the final two of Emily Maynard’s season, only for her to pick Jef Holm in the end. He was still in love with her falling the show and struggled to get over the rejection, and he remained a fan favorite in the months that passed.

Maybe Arie does have an outside chance of metaphorically passing Chris in the home stretch and taking this home … but we doubt it. This seems like ABC trying to create competition for itself to make it less obvious that Chris is going to be the guy picked in the end. He’s the one who is the most popular right now, he has the story as a farmer, and he also, unlike Arie, can claim that he is free of a past that involves Courtney Robertson. After that book of her came out, you would think that the show would want to be as far away from her as possible.

The only thing we’re still bitter about is what we said in our podcast earlier in the week: Marquel Martin should at least be given some consideration here. He seems to be just as popular as Chris, and we find him to be more charismatic.

What’s your take on this: Do you really think that anyone can unseat Chris as the top contender for the show? Share below, and click here if you want to grab some further TV scoop now via our official newsletter.

Photo: ABC