Chrishell Stause, the star of Netflix’s Selling Sunset, was once supposed to be the Bachelorette according to Insider. If you’re feeling shook and shocked, don’t worry, you’re not alone. No one had any idea until Stause herself revealed it in her latest memoir, Under Construction. We thought were going to learn all about her divorce with This Is Us’ Justin Hartley and her whirlwind romance with Oppenheim Group boss, Jason Oppenheim–but there’s more tea spilling here, folks!
Back during The Bachelorette Season 4, she was supposed to be the lead until Ellen Degeneres started to push for DeAnna Pappas. Fans got in on the hype and ABC heard them and then decided to pull the Chrishell Stause announcement.
Stause was supposed to be revealed as the Bachelorette following a very dramatic 11th season of The Bachelor when lead Brad Womack ended up not giving a rose to either of the finalists, DeAnna Pappas and Jenni Croft.
In her memoir, Stause wrote, “DeAnna Pappas went on ‘Ellen’ and talked about getting rejected by Brad, and Ellen declared that DeAnna should be the next ‘Bachelorette.’ Fans rallied around, the network listened, and my announcement was pulled. I never got the chance to hand out that fateful rose. I was in my mid-twenties at the time, and I was definitely bummed.”
The time when Chrishell Stause almost became the Bachelorette
Because of Degeneres’ advocating, Pappas went on to be the Bachelorette instead in Season 4. Pretty surprising, right? Robert Mills, the ABC executive for the franchise, talked about the decision to replace Stause with Pappas when he dropped by Nick Viall’s podcast in 2020.
It was all set especially after the casting director found Stause while she was on All My Children. Mills met with her and couldn’t agree more until the president of ABC got a call from Degeneres herself asking for Pappas to be the lead instead. How much power does this woman have?!
Life and fate had something else in mind and while Chrishell Stause never did make it onto the Bachelorette or Bachelor franchise, she did do reality television with Selling Sunset and then Dancing with the Stars.
Given the track record of the franchise, Stause might be better off. What do you think?
Chrishell Stause for our next Bachelorette?
Did you know about Chrishell’s connection to the Bachelorette franchise? Let us know in the comments below!