The next Bachelor will be revealed on Tuesday night’s live After Paradise talk show, but fans may be surprised at who ABC picked to be their next leading man.
Chase McNary, who left Bachelorette JoJo’s season in third place, arrived in L.A. on Tuesday, just hours before the next Bachelor is set to be announced on After Paradise. Although rumors point to Luke Pell as the guy who will be handing out roses in January, 2017, even Reality Steve isn’t sure if producers changed their mind and went with Chase instead.
One thing is for sure — it’s not Chad Johnson, something that was confirmed (thankfully) via Twitter by Bachelor honcho Mike Fleiss on Tuesday.
Here’s some intel on what fans can expect to happen on After Paradise tonight when the Bachelor 2017 is revealed.
Who will it be? The wait is over! #TheBachelor will be revealed on #AfterParadise TONIGHT at 9|8c on ABC! pic.twitter.com/GyN09g0kqK
— The Bachelor (@BachelorABC) August 30, 2016
On Tuesday, ABC posted a teaser video on Twitter (above) that showed a limo pulling up to the Bachelor mansion, but all fans can see is a foot and sock stepping out of the car. Certainly that’s not enough to determine who the next Bachelor is.
However, Chase McNary has been updating his fans via Snapchat that he’s in L.A., creating some chatter in Bachelor Nation about Luke getting the gig.
According to Reality Steve , he still expects it to be Luke but he is not completely sure, pointing to the change of heart producers had on the last season of the Bachelorette — Fans were positive that Caila was picked because they filmed her intro shots. Days later JoJo Fletcher was introduced, something that came as a big surprise to Caila’s fans.
“I’ve told you for two months I expect it to be Luke, I haven’t heard any information that has been different than that since, so I expect him to be announced tonight… Could there have been something that fell through last minute I’m not aware of? Sure. Has happened before (like Caila this past season).”
However, having Chase fly out to L.A. could be something that’s set up by producers to trick fans into thinking Luke won’t be the Bachelor 2017. The Inquisitr reported last year that Nick Viall arrived in L.A. shortly before the announcement, sparking rumors that he was picked instead of Ben Higgins.
Sure enough, Nick was on stage during the live After Paradise show minutes before the Bachelor 2016 was revealed. Chris talked to Nick for a few moments and then introduced Ben Higgins as the Bachelor , essentially using Nick to get people talking.
“I wouldn’t put it past them to have Chase post that on purpose to throw people off,” Reality Steve writes. “Even have Chase thinking it’s him up to the last possible minute. Let me tell you, I’d be shocked if it was Chase. All my intel for the last 2 months has said it’s going to be Luke, and I have no reason to believe otherwise.”
It won’t be long before the mystery is over and fans find out who will start their journey to find love as the Bachelor this January. The clues have all been leading up to Luke, so Chase’s fans should prepare themselves for a major disappointment tonight.
For weeks, Bachelor franchise creator Mike Fleiss has been tweeting hints, and many of them added up to Luke, a 31-year-old war veteran, getting the gig.
He is “very handsome,” “likes sunrises more than sunsets,” makes a “mean tuna casserole,” and can “run a mile in less than six minutes” and “Omaha” were some of the many clues Fleiss tweeted to fans.
Oh, and that sunrise hint?
Not only does Luke have a sunrise pic as his Twitter header, but he has also posted many beautiful photos of the Texas sunrise on his Instagram account.
Is the next Bachelor Luke, or Chase, or someone else? Find out for sure on tonight’s After Paradise talk show at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.
[Images via ABC Television Network]