Bachelor Nation fans won’t see a new season of The Bachelorette this year, if at all. The show was unexpectedly put on pause after major allegations and drama on Jenn Tran’s season. But according to alum Ben Higgins, the now-canceled Season 22 of The Bachelorette was close to casting a lead.
Ben Higgins Claims Maria Georgas Was Season 22 Bachelorette
Bachelor Nation alums Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti break down what’s going on in the franchise on their Almost Famous podcast. In a recent episode, they reacted to the news that The Bachelorette was put on pause. They shared with listeners what they’d heard through grapevine about Season 22.
They claimed the Maria Georgas was in talks with ABC to be the Season 22 Bachelorette.
Reality TV blogger Zachary Reality shared the podcast gossip on social media. The news traveled to Reddit and one Redditor gave more context about what Ben and Ashley said.
“They said it was between Maria, Rachel Recchia, and 2 of Grant’s women. They said Rachel had a reason she couldn’t do it (sounds like she’s either dating someone or wasn’t able to contractually do Bachelorette before/while Perfect Match is airing), and then things with Maria fell through again and they didn’t think either of Grant’s women would bring in a big enough audience so ABC decided to postpone it.”
If the rumors about Season 22 are true, it wasn’t the first time ABC asked Maria Georgas to be The Bachelorette.
She Turned It Down Before
Fans may recall the drama between Jenn Tran and Maria Georgas surrounding Bachelorette Season 21. While Jenn Tran was eventually named as The Bachelorette, Maria Georgas claimed that she was asked but turned it down. Both Maria and Jenn pursued Joey Graziadei on Season 28 of The Bachelor. However, he eliminated both of them at various stages of his journey and proposed to Kelsey Anderson.
Since her time on The Bachelor, Maria Georgas has been linked to various celebrities. Rumors have swirled that she was dating Kim Kardashian’s ex Pete Davidson, Bachelor alum Peter Weber, Bravo star Carl Radke, and more. But she’s never publicly dated anyone since Joey Graziadei rejected her.
Fans React To Rumored Casting
The Reddit subreddit dedicated to all things Bachelor Nation had some thoughts on Maria Georgas as the next Bachelorette.
- “I could actually see that. Maybe she felt that last year would be too rushed or she was unsure about it, but now it’s been a year, and she could’ve had more conversations/negotiations with ABC about it.”
- “I have a hard time believing it. Maria didn’t stay all that relevant post season.”
- “Remember how Charity announced Jenn last year. . .imagine how awkward it would’ve been if Jenn had to announce Maria.”
- “If we’re choosing chaos we need to go FULL chaos and make it Victoria F”
- “Well I’m glad the bachelorette is skipping then”
One fan even suggested that The Bachelorette wouldn’t be on pause right now if Maria Georgas had accepted the lead role for Season 21.
Do you think the rumors Ben Higgins heard about Maria Georgas being the frontrunner for Bachelorette Season 22 are true? Let us know in the comments.
