While he stopped short of confirming rumors that rejected The Bachelor suitor Ali Fedotowsky has already been selected as the next star of The Bachelorette, Chris Harrison has thrown his support behind the idea.
ADVERTISEMENT
"She definitely has a shot. I think she would be a fantastic Bachelorette," Harrison told TVGuide.com on Tuesday.
"I like women that have loved and lost, have learned a lesson, and you have Ali, obviously beautiful, a very down-to-earth, career-driven woman who learned a great lesson about love."
Fedotowsky was one of four remaining bachelorettes vying for The Bachelor star Jake Pavelka's heart when she decided to leave the show during last week's episode to avoid having to quit her job at Facebook, which she had only begun a few months before the show was taped last fall.
However she subsequently changed her mind and attempted to return to the show during Monday night's episode, only to discover that Pavelka was unwilling to let her do so.
ADVERTISEMENT
Fedotowsky subsequently voiced interest in starring in The Bachelorette during a Tuesday appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
"That would be so nice. I would be so flattered," she told DeGeneres when the talk show host suggested the idea. "If they were to ask me, it'd be so great, I'd have to think about it."
Fedotowsky's The Bachelorette casting would continue a The Bachelor/The Bachelorette reject-turned-star chain that began when eleventh-season The Bachelor finalist DeAnna Pappas was selected as the star of The Bachelorette's 2008 fourth season, however Harrison said he doesn't believe viewers have necessarily grown tired of the reality dating franchise's recent casting approach.
"I go back and forth. I totally understand people that are like, 'Let's start new,' but obviously Ali, or even Jake, had nothing to do with Brad Womack; had nothing to do with DeAnna Pappas," he told TVGuide.com.
"There's the lineage there and a chain, but a lot of them have nothing to do with the other, other than the previous season. I understand where people want fresh, but I also understand where a producer has a built-in story with Jake and you have a built-in fan base, good or bad."
ADVERTISEMENT
According to Harrison, he was among those who were surprised that Pavelka rejected Fedotowsky's request to return to The Bachelor.
"I didn't think he would have it in him to do that. I know that he was falling in love with her and I know it crushed him," he said.
However he was "proud" of Pavelka's decision.
"I was proud of the fact that he stood up and was like, 'No, you made the choice to leave and these other women haven't. I'm also falling for them and I've moved on and you need to do so as well," he added.
About The Author: Steven Rogers