The Bachelor in chaos; will Ben Zorn, Jared Haibon unseat Peter Kraus?
According to a source over at People Magazine, the show is in “a full-blown panic mode … Peter was honestly never their first choice; they’re still mad at him because of the whole Rachel situation. But they knew he’s who the fans wanted. And the fact that they went to Peter even after they’d initially said they wouldn’t? That let Peter know he had a ton of power going into this situation.”
As the negotiations fell through, the People source adds that Peter started to realize that he had a lot of the leverage:
“Suddenly it was like they needed him more than he needs them — he didn’t think he was going to get it, anyway, so he doesn’t care if it all goes away again. He’s not bending on what he wants. Really, the producers feel like ANY demands coming from Peter are a bit much; they always think everybody should be falling all over themselves to get this honor. And Peter just doesn’t play that way. He doesn’t play by any of the rules — if he did, he’d have just proposed to Rachel even though he knew it wouldn’t work out, and then broken up with her a few months later, like Nick just did. But he couldn’t be forced into it.
“That might have also been a sticking point: the show likely would want him to promise to propose at the end — Nick definitely had to say he would go through with it — and it’s highly possible Peter just refused to promise, just like he refused to go ahead with Rachel.”
So … who can the show bring in as the new Bachelor? This is why they’re in a tailspin, given that there are no obvious candidates if they’re not going with Peter or Wells Adams. Chase McNary and Luke Pell are both forgotten by the mainstream viewers, Eric Bigger didn’t have a huge personality on his season, and Ben Higgins already said that he’s not interested in taking on the gig. Could the show look towards a Jared Haibon, popular from seasons past, or a Ben Zorn from this summer’s Bachelor in Paradise? Or, do you really go out of left field and hire someone who has never done the show before? We do think that there are some crazy possibilities there and personally we would just love to see some brand new blood on the show. Give us a bachelor that isn’t part of Bachelor Nation!!!
In the end, the most interesting clue for this gig is a tweet that Fleiss actually deleted, one that suggests that even in the midst of the panic, the show may have their choice: The new Bachelor apparently never went on a hometown date. That means that they could be going with Ben or Jared, given that neither one of them made it that far.
Ultimately, does it really matter who the lead is anyway? We do think that it’s more about the women than the guy in the lead role so long as the guy is not a heel. We’d probably go with Ben Zorn, but we’ll see what the show has in store for us.
Who do you think could be new Bachelor star, provided that it’s not Peter? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments! (Photo: ABC.)