When the reality-dating series “The Bachelor” restocks its roses, fan favorite Chris Soules will be the one to hand them out.
Nicknamed “Farmer Chris,” the 32-year-old Iowa native is familiar to fans who watched him make it to the top three spots on the most recent season of “The Bachelorette.” One of 25 suitors to appear last season, he was eliminated in the second-to-last episode of the competition, which ended in July when bachelorette Andi Dorfman accepted the marriage proposal of former minor-league baseball player Josh Murray.
Soules considered returning to the franchise as the main man when E! interviewed him in July.
“How could you not be interested in that?” he said. “Especially for me, in the situation I'm in, I live in a small town. It's kind of part of the reason I'm here," he explained. "I'm 32 and I haven't really met the person I'm looking for and it's hard to meet people … in a small town. So, that alone makes it something I would be interested in.”
Given the remaining options from that 10th season of “The Bachelorette,” Soules is not a surprise pick to be “The Bachelor.” While series runners-up are often strong candidates to lead the following season of the franchise, second-place finisher Nick Viall irked many viewers for his behavior throughout the competition, including the way he confronted Dorfman on live TV about their sexual history.
By contrast, Soules seems like the ultimate Nice Guy.
According to his profile on “The Bachelorette’s” website, he considers himself a romantic when he’s “with the right person”; describes his ideal mate as “slender, athletic [and] beautiful” and lists his biggest date fear as “accidental diarrhea” (as opposed to the kind you get on purpose).
Some “Bachelorette” fans had hoped the new prize would be Season 8 runner-up Arie Luyendyk Jr., who hinted Monday at Soules’ new role with a post on Twitter.
“I'm not the Bachelor, have fun on the farm people,” the race-car driver tweeted, punctuating the post with an Emoji of a hand giving the peace sign.
Luyendyk later tweeted a thank-you to fans to confirm he wasn't too broken up over the news.
Soules’ cycle of “The Bachelor” — the ABC series’ 19th season overall — is expected to premiere in January.
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