Bachelor Nation
‘Bachelor’ Fave Maria Georgas Was ‘Frontrunner’ for ‘Bachelorette’ Season 22 Lead Before Show’s Pause
Bachelor Nation veterans Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti are spilling new details from their source as to what happened before The Bachelorette was put on pause. According to their insider, The Bachelor Season 28 fan favorite Maria Georgas was the top choice for the lead of Season 22.
Georgas famously backed out of being the star of The Bachelorette Season 21 after being in deep discussions with production, which led to Jenn Tran taking on the role. Higgins and Iaconetti’s sources claim that Georgas not being the lead again was one of the reasons that led to the show’s hiatus.
“We’re pretty certain that Maria from Joey’s season was a frontrunner, as we thought that she was a frontrunner to be the Bachelorette during Jenn’s season,” Iaconetti said on her latest Almost Famous podcast episode. “The source says that they don’t know exactly what happened, but they couldn’t make Maria happen, and that’s why the show didn’t get picked up because they just didn’t think that they had… I’m assuming that they didn’t think they had a strong enough lead that was going to get enough ratings.”
Ben later added, “It almost seems to me, based on the information we have, that they couldn’t make it work with Maria for whatever reason that was, and as a result, they had to pull the plug on the show because somebody that had a lot of influence over the show was fairly stuck on this Maria storyline and said, ‘If we’re not going to do Maria, it’s not worth doing.'”
Iaconetti also mentioned that “two girls from Grant’s season” were also being considered. She continued, “Let’s also say that our sources were saying that they were thinking about also giving Rachel Recchia a redo. They said that her name was floated around. But there is a reason that she couldn’t do it, and we can’t reveal that at real time.”
Higgins chimed in to say that they “do know the reason” why Recchia couldn’t have a Bachelorette redo. “We will tell you soon enough,” Iaconetti said. “But production and fans love Rachel, and I would have loved to see Rachel have her own season. She’s so likable. I really, really love that girl. But there’s something else exciting that’s happening for her.”
The Bachelor in Paradise alum revealed that “75 percent of the dates” for The Bachelorette Season 22 were planned, her source said. “Greece and Portugal were in the mix, and there was going to be an iHeart podcast-related date,” she said. The show was going to “bring some familiar faces to the cast,” and the co-hosts alluded to The Bachelorette Season 21 alum Sam McKinney.
Higgins and Iaconetti debated over why Georgas would not want to do the show. “I think there would be it matters what life’s circumstances were going on,” Higgins said. “You know, obviously with Daisy [Kent], you brought it up, she wasn’t confident taking the role, and she was falling in love. It matters kind of what Maria’s dating life is like and what her personal life looks like now outside the show.”
The Bachelor Season 20 lead said that Georgas would “have been a great choice to watch on television” if she had decided to find love as the next star of The Bachelorette.
ABC has not released any information about who the possible frontrunner for the Season 22 were before the show’s pause. “I don’t think the show is gone forever,” Higgins stressed. Deadline, who first announced the Season 22 pause, reported that The Bachelorette has “not been canceled and will likely come back,” just not in 2025.
Do you think Maria should be the next Bachelorette? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
