Hannah Brown is reportedly The Bachelorette producers' top choice to star on this spring's 16th season but wants an appearance fee that's higher than the show is willing to pay to return for a second season.
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Producers "absolutely" wanted Hannah to become the franchise's next leading lady, according to Reality Steve spoiler blogger Steve Carbone.
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"Did they want Hannah Brown? Absolutely. She was their top choice," Carbone wrote on his blog on Wednesday.
"But they couldn't agree on money apparently and she's out unless something drastic happens. That's the latest I have on Bachelorette."
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Carbone insisted ABC and The Bachelorette producers haven't made a decision yet.
"A decision should be made within the next week or so on who they end up choosing... We're basically two weeks away from them making their official announcement... Anyone who says they've already chosen [the new star] is lying," he wrote.
"Clearly a lot of people get interviewed, and multiple women sign contracts so when they do make their announcement, they're ready to go and start shooting intros."
It's likely The Bachelorette announcement will be made at the end of Peter Weber's two-part The Bachelor finale, which is airing March 9 and 10.
Carbone assumes the new Bachelorette will also be introduced to a handful of her Season 16 suitors during the March 10 broadcast.
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Hannah starred on Season 15 of The Bachelorette last year and enamored fans with her quirky personality, confidence, and fearless ability to speak her mind and be open with viewers.
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In addition the alleged compensation issue Carbone is reporting, Entertainment Tonight also reported last week that Hannah's The Bachelorette return is unlikely given Dancing with the Stars recently announced she will be appearing at several of its tour stops next month.
Dancing with the Stars announced Hannah will be performing with pro partner Alan Bersten at six stops from March 24 to March 29, beginning with Riverside, CA, and ending in Los Angeles, CA.
All of Hannah's shows are in southern California except for a stop in Phoenix, AZ, on March 27.
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The tour does in fact conflict with The Bachelorette's production schedule since the series typically begins filming in the middle of March.
However, given all but one of the six DWTS tour stops are basically in the Los Angeles area or within a relatively short drive, it wouldn't necessarily be impossible for producers to work around Hannah's DWTS commitments since The Bachelorette will likely still be filming at the Malibu mansion during the tour dates.
Hannah memorably made two appearances on Peter's season of The Bachelor when it was filming in the Los Angeles area while she was competing on Dancing with the Stars last fall.
The only non-California location, Phoenix, is also easily reachable by a short flight.
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When asked whether she'd be open to starring on The Bachelorette again, Hannah told ET last month, "I don't know [if I'd do it again]! Because... there was a lot of hard and bad about it. I mean, hello. Did we see my ending?"
"But there's a lot of good that comes out of it too," Hannah shared at the time.
"I would never, like, completely bash The Bachelor franchise. I think it's had a lot of success in the people that are together are very happily together. So, of course, I want that, but it doesn't have to be as the Bachelorette."
Hannah got engaged to aspiring county singer Jed Wyatt at the end of The Bachelorette's fifteenth season last year, but Hannah broke off their engagement five weeks later when she discovered Jed had lied about having a girlfriend back home in Nashville, TN, during filming.
Hannah then asked her runner-up, Tyler Cameron, out on a date during The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose, only for him to spend a night with her in August in the Los Angeles-area and then move on with supermodel Gigi Hadid.
"I want a person in my life. I definitely want that. [But] I know that I don't need that. There is that like, weird... desire in my heart to find somebody. Do I have to do that as being the Bachelorette? No. But it is, I think, something that can work and has worked for other people," Hannah shared with ET.
"Right now, I'm just trying to seize the opportunities that I have and feel very confident in the things that I say 'yes' to, and also confident in the things that I know aren't the best for me right now."
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The ABC franchise is currently airing Peter Weber's season of The Bachelor on Monday nights at 8PM ET/PT, with The Women Tell All special airing next on March 2.
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