The Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe is just weeks away from handing out her final rose, so that means it’s time to speculate about who will be the next Bachelor . Casting for the 20th season of ABC’s popular reality show is underway, and host Chris Harrison has the scoop on who fans can expect to see handing out roses in 2016.
Chris made it clear during a recent interview with E! that Andi Dorfman’s ex, Josh Murray , is not a top contender. Although there are rumors that Josh will be offered the lead next season, Harrison states that he is not being considered.
“I can tell you that those rumors don’t come from us, it’s not internal and it’s not being thrown about in the Bachelor franchise and it’s not being talked about at ABC… he’s a great guy, but I know we’re not having those discussions.”
While there’s always a chance that he’s bluffing and keeping an announcement about Josh under wraps until later this summer, there is one guy who is definitely off the Bachelor list — Chris Soules.
“Prince Farming will definitely not be back,” Harrison tells E! Apparently, the Iowa farmer is fine with that —a few weeks after his breakup with Whitney Bischoff, he appeared on the Dan Patrick Show (video below) and stated that he would “never do the show again.”
With Murray and Soules out of the running, who does Chris Harrison think will get the opportunity to date 25 women on Season 20? One of Kaitlyn Bristowe’s guys, of course.
“Just off the top of my head I can think of four guys. Those guys are still on the show, so it’s not hard to figure out who we’re interested in.”
[Spoilers ahead]
According to a previous report from the Inquisitr , frontrunner Ben Higgins is a top contender to become the Bachelor in 2016. Spoilers indicate that the 26-year-old business analyst will be eliminated after the overnight dates, and he’s not on the Bachelor in Paradise cast list, making him totally available to take the gig.
There have been rumors that Shawn Booth would be offered the gig, there is speculation that he gets Kaitlyn’s final rose on July 27. And Nick Viall? After appearing on two seasons of the Bachelorette , perhaps he will head back to his day job and stop trying to find love on TV.
Expect Chris Harrison to make the official announcement about the Bachelor 2016 at some point this summer — perhaps around the time of the Bachelor in Paradise Season 2 premiere on August 2.
Who would you like to see as the next Bachelor ?
[Image: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images]