Where do we sign up? Although Bachelor Nation generally offers the role of Bachelor or Bachelorette to previous contestants, casting producers have been known to ask celebrities to do the honors.
In October 2020, ABC executive Robert Mills dished on the behind-the-scenes details of the long-running reality dating franchise. While spilling secrets about the dramatic 16th season of The Bachelorette, the studio head revealed that he’d once considered Chrishell Stause for the series before she became a big Netflix name.
“She would never remember this. I’ve actually had lunch with Chrishell, this was about 10 or 11 years ago, to talk about being the Bachelorette,” Mills told Nick Viall on his “Viall Files” podcast, recalling that the female-led version of the series hadn’t taken off yet. “There was like four Bachelors for every one Bachelorette. … At that point we didn’t know who it was going to be, so we were looking for people and our casting director said, ‘We should meet with this girl Chrishell Stause, she’s amazing.’”
Stause was starring on All My Children at the time and has since become a major reality TV personality. In March 2019, she appeared in Netflix’s Selling Sunset, which quickly produced three successful seasons. The real estate series grew so popular that the Kentucky native scored a place in the Dancing With the Stars ballroom for season 29, competing for the mirrorball trophy with partner Gleb Savchenko.
“I was convinced, I was like, ‘This is the Bachelorette,’” Mills remembered of his meeting with the “awesome” former soap opera star.
After the throwback moment made headlines, Stause joked about what could have been a turning point in her career. “Of course I remember [this lunch]! So funny to think about now,” the realtor joked in the comments of an Us Weekly Instagram post.
Stause isn’t the only celebrity who’s been given the chance to hand out roses to worthy singles. In September 2018, Drew Scott joked that his twin brother, Jonathan Scott, was approached by the series multiple times — but neither was sure it was a good fit.
“Jonathan has been pitched, like, I think four times now, been approached to be the Bachelor. He don’t need that,” Drew told Us exclusively. At the time, his brother admitted that even the thought of being Bachelor gave him “so much anxiety.”
Scroll down to see which celebs came close to accepting the coveted reality TV gig!