A Quick Recap Of All The Bachelorette Rumours Ahead Of The Big Reveal

Bachelor Nation, rejoice. A new dawn is almost upon us — we’re about to find out the identity of our new bachelorette.

With only two weeks left in Peter Weber’s tumultuous quest for love (or whatever dream he’s been selling the women on this season), fans of the dating franchise are eager to find out whose story we’ll watch unfold next. Thankfully, the team behind The Bachelor won’t keep us waiting much longer; our sixteenth bachelorette will officially be announced on March 2nd during Monday’s episode of Good Morning America.

"We're revealing the new @BacheloretteABC, LIVE Monday on @GMA!" tweeted GMA producer Tony Morrison.

So...who is she? The Bachelor universe is already bursting with theories about who the next bachelorette could be. With almost 20 years under its belt, the reality show now has a host of potential candidates to pick from, so it really could be anybody. But that fact isn’t keeping fans from coming up with their own hypotheses, and they’ve narrowed it down to a few key names. Ahead, all the women that could be in the running to lead the next season of The Bachelorette.

When I first heard about Clare being up for the coveted position, I was confused. It had been awhile since I’d last seen or heard anything about her — why would she be the bachelorette?  

But as I started thinking about it, the theory made sense. Unlike the franchise’s last few leads, Clare is a grown woman. At 38 years old, if she’s returning to this show, it’s probably for the real deal; we’d finally be getting a bachelorette who is ready to get married.

Her season would be a lot less stressful for us at home to watch, too. The men suiting up to court Clare would likely skew on the older side, meaning that we’d likely see less mind games and more mature dating. And after the hell we’ve been through with Peter this season, I’d say that Bachelor Nation deserves some peace.

Hannah Ann may be in Peter’s top three right now, but as previews have shown, there’s a very strong possibility that she won’t nab his final rose. Our bachelor seems to have his eyes and heart set on Madison Prewett despite their conflicting views on premarital sex and intimacy, so Hannah Ann might be left standing in the Australian wilderness all alone.

Throughout Bachelor canon, there have been numerous instances of the runner-up being given a second chance at love with their own journey as the lead, and that could be the case for this Tennessee native. Hannah Ann believes in love and believes in this process more than anyone else on the show, so she could be the perfect candidate to keep this train going.

The Bachelor loves a good redemption story, and there is no better example from this season than Kelsey. Our emotional queen’s ride started off very rocky, marked by an endless stream of tears and several unfortunate champagne crises, but her openness and emotional availability landed her in Peter’s final four.

Unfortunately, no one but Kelsey was surprised (disappointed, but not surprised) when he dumped her in Iowa during hometowns, and her heartbroken reaction was suspiciously reminiscent of that of many of the other women who were rejected before becoming the bachelorette. We recognize a Bachelorette edit when we see one, ABC. You’re not slick.

A frontrunner on Colton Underwood's season of the show — until the fence jump, that is — Tayshia quickly became a Bachelor Nation favourite, and her appearance on Bachelor in Paradise solidified her stans. As the secretary of the "Tayshia for Bachelorette" club, I would be more than happy to see my fave take up the mantle, but the chances of that happening are unfortunately pretty low.

It shouldn't be a big deal to cast leads of colour, but The Bachelor does have a race problem of sorts. If chosen, Tayshia would only be the franchise's second Black bachelorette. And after the bad edit that Rachel Lindsay got as the first Black bachelorette in 2017, I don't think that it's a stretch to say that we haven't made too much progress where race is concerned; someone on the current season literally posed in a White Lives Matter photoshoot. Tayshia might be better off remaining a beloved Bachelor alum.