No, The Bachelor Hasn’t Been Chosen Yet, But The Reason Actually Makes Sense

As Rachel Lindsay’s season of The Bachelorette begins its descent toward the final rose ceremony, the Bachelor Nation chatter surrounding two huge questions reaches fever pitch. The first being, obviously, “Who does Rachel pick?” The second being, also obviously, “Who will be the lead on The Bachelor Season 22?” Could it be Dean Unglert, Peter Kraus, Eric Bigger, or Bryan Abasolo? Or might it be someone who did not make it to the top four? Or what if it’s Adam Jr.? Well, according to the Emperor of Bachelor Nation, it sounds like nobody knows. When Entertainment Tonight spoke with the host of the long-running reality franchise at the Men Tell All taping, Chris Harrison revealed that the next Bachelor has not been selected. Oh, and it sort of sounds like it'll be a while before the next Bachelor is selected.

Harrison told ET,

"Dean, Peter, Brian, Eric. There's four great candidates right there. They'd all be great Bachelors, they would. I can't poke a hole in any of them, but in all seriousness, we've not picked a Bachelor. So, I can tell you, no Bachelor is chosen."

But what are you waiting for, Harrison and co.? Lindsay’s season of The Bachelorette is almost over and— oh, right. Bachelor in Paradise is a thing, and that cast includes viable Bachelor candidates, too. As Harrison pointed out to ET, Nick Viall landed The Bachelor not after his two stints on The Bachelorette, but right after his revelatory performance on Paradise.

Harrison explained,

"Nick popped out of Paradise if you remember, we didn't see that coming. We weren't planning on it and then it happened. I think, lesson learned, we're going to wait and just watch it all play out."

He went on to say there is “no reason to” announce who will star on the next season of The Bachelor because it would “just be jumping the gun.” Harrison, you make a solid point. An understandable point. A for the right reasons point.

Rather than potentially create another Luke Pell fake out situation, the series wants to wait out BiP and see who pops. Makes sense. Sure, Harrison did tell ET that it is “safe to say it's more likely someone from Rachel's season" because that's how the show usually does things, but for all we know, a BiP contestant from another Bachelorette season could swoop in, Viall style.

And oh, what a swoop it was.