'The Bachelor' reportedly considering Brad Womack as star again

The Bachelor may be giving Brad Womack a second chance at finding love.


The ABC reality show is considering having Womack -- who rejected both his remaining suitors when he starred in The Bachelor's eleventh season in 2007 -- serve as the star of the show's upcoming fifteenth edition, Star magazine reported Monday.

Womack, a 37-year-old Austin, TX bar owner, ended his The Bachelor edition in 2007 by rejecting both Jenni Croft and DeAnna Pappas after deciding he hadn't fallen in love with either of them.

"I didn't want to make a false promise when I just didn't feel it in my heart," he said afterward.  " I don't have a formula for falling in love."

Womack -- who also rejected Pappas a second time during his After the Final Rose special -- was subsequently lambasted for his unprecedented decision to not select either of his final two women, causing him to say he regretted participating in The Bachelor because "being scrutinized so much" was "getting old."


However Womack later had a change of heart and decided he would be willing to do the show again.

"I would do it again, simply because I believe in the fairy-tale romance," Womack said during a November 2007 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show after DeGeneres apologized for calling him a "jerk" during an earlier broadcast.

"I am so disappointed that it didn't happen to me. So of course I'd do it again.  Now never in a million years did I expect the backlash, so I'm having to develop a pretty tough skin."

Pappas later went on to serve as the star of The Bachelorette's fourth season -- launching a suitor-turned-star chain in which former Pappas suitor Jason Mesnick became the next Bachelor star, former Mesnick suitor Jillian Harris became the Bachelorette, former Harris suitor Jake Pavelka became the Bachelor, and former Pavelka suitor Ali Fedotowsky became the Bachelorette.

The Bachelor producers had initially targeted Chris Lambton -- who was rejected by Fedotowsky during the finale of this summer's The Bachelorette edition -- as the show's next star, however the 33-year-old landscaper and former teacher from Dennis, MA has been hesitant to accept the role.


"Honestly, it's something that I'll have to think long and hard about because it was hard watching, you know, so much of my personal life and intimate details of like dating and love on TV," he told reporters following The Bachelorette's August finale broadcast. 

"It's definitely something that I'll have to, you know, really, really think about.  I'm not really sure if I want to share all that again."

E! News later reported that Lambton had decided to turn down the offer, however The Bachelor host Chris Harrison called the report premature.

"There's an ongoing dialogue," Harrison told People last month. "I was just with him this weekend in North Carolina and we talked about the show -- it may be right for him, but it may not be."

According to a Monday People report, The Bachelor producers have extended offers to both Lambton and Ty Brown, a divorced 31-year-old medical salesman from Nashville, TN who finished fifth on Fedotowsky's The Bachelorette edition, but neither has been confirmed yet.


In addition, "there may be one or two other men still under consideration," according to a People source.

ABC and The Bachelor's producers declined to comment on who will star in the show's fifteenth edition, which is scheduled to begin filming next month and premiere in January.

"We will be making an announcement soon," a spokesperson told People.






About The Author: Steven Rogers