Most of us believe in giving second chances, but does that charitable spirit apply to our Bachelors?
ABC is banking on it, as they announced tonight during the live airing of Dancing with the Stars that tall, handsome and once nationally scorned Bachelor 11 Brad Womack, the 37-year-old bar owner from Austin, Texas famous for rejecting both his finalists the first time around, will reprise his soulmate-seeking role as Bachelor 15 this winter.
This news should come as no surprise to those who have been tracking the spoilers. But ABC did their best to try to punk the Dancing audience this evening. After host Chris Harrison tweeted that he would be sitting next to the new Bachelor, viewers were shocked to see Bachelorette/Bachelor Pad contestant Jonathan Novack, known to have all the romantic charisma of a baby weasel, sitting in Harrison’s shotgun seat. Call it ABC’s way of tricking us into feeling relieved when they actually announced Womack’s name.
Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron had some sage words of advice for Womack: “Brad, this time, pick somebody.”
The redemption storyline for Brad has already started, and we can look forward to it only snowballing until the next Bachelor season begins in early 2011:
Melissa Rycroft, who has a little experience with Bachelor rejection, tells Access Hollywood, “I think Brad’s a great guy. I think he made the right decision not picking anybody the first time around. At least he didn’t pick one and change at the last minute, right?” she laughed.
Host Chris Harrison tells People (as is his job): “I don’t think Brad deserved as much of the anger and resentment from the fans. He’s come out a better man, and I think he’s ready to do this.”
So: What do you think? Are you willing to give Brad Womack another chance in your heart, and on your TV screen, with a Bachelor: Take Two season?
I’m not all that pleased, as I was a big Chris Lambton fan on Ali’s Bachelorette season, and, barring his headlining the show, I was hoping for a fresh face to break up the long-running Bachelor formula of reject to rose-giver. But I do find it amusing that Brad is the one who started that chain (Since he starred on his first Bachelor run in 2007, it’s been all rejects and runners-up in the following seasons) and now he’ll bring it full circle, like the end of a twisted game of romantic telephone.
On the one hand: I know I’m going to get sick of all the times I will hear the words “second chance” and “never give up on love” and so forth this coming season, and a new Bachelor would have added more anticipation and unknowns. But, on the other hand, since ABC forced me to think of it in this light tonight: At least it’s not the Weatherman.
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
Meghan hails from Walla Walla, WA, the proud home of the world’s best sweet onions and Adam West, the original Batman. An avid grammarian and over-analyzer, you can usually find her thinking too hard about plot devices in favorites like The Office, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and How I Met Your Mother. In her spare time, Meghan enjoys drawing, shopping, trying to be funny (and often failing), and not understanding the whole Twilight thing. She’s got a BA in English and Studio Art from Whitman College, which makes her a professional arguer, daydreamer, and doodler.
