Chase McNary has revealed producers had him on the hook to be Season 21's The Bachelor star but dumped him last-minute for Nick Viall -- just like what happened to Luke Pell.
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"I went through the negotiations, I accepted the offer, I signed the contract," McNary told Us Weekly.
McNary disclosed that producers really led him on. He learned he wouldn't be starring as the Bachelor just one day before ABC announced Viall as the franchise's new leading man Tuesday, August 30 on an episode of After Paradise.
"I talked to my family friends about being the Bachelor. It was the Monday before they announced it that they told me I wasn't the Bachelor. So I found out with the rest of the world that it was Nick," McNary said.
The Colorado-based medical sales representative's story is almost exactly what happened to Pell, who claimed fourth place on Fletcher's season and was another frontrunner for The Bachelor position.
"Inherently, I thought it was going to be Luke," McNary explained. "When I found out I wasn't the Bachelor, I thought it was going to be Luke. I think Luke thought it was going to be me. And we both at the same time found out it was going to be Nick."
Pell similarly had also "agreed to the contracts" and thought "everything was moving forward" until he was informed on Sunday, August 28 -- just 11 hours before he was scheduled to fly to Los Angeles to begin filming -- the show decided to go in a different direction. Pell told E! News in early September he "didn't deserve" to be treated that way.
Despite the obvious letdown, McNary insisted he's currently happy and doing just fine.
"It's one of those things where I opened my heart and my mind and my thoughts [to] being the Bachelor, and I was ready to try it, and I was ready to do it," McNary told Us. "And now that I'm not, I'm actually glad. You know? I'm glad that I can find love in a more organic, natural way."
McNary is currently single although he was recently rumored to be dating Tomi Lahren. The couple was apparently close for a short time but the romance didn't end up working out.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
