Southern blond sweetheart Emily Maynard won the hearts of millions of television viewers when she competed on the 15th season of ABC’s The Bachelor. (Unfortunately for her, she also won the heart of The Bachelor, buff scruffy doofus Brad Womack.) But that unfortunate romance is long over and now it appears that Emily is ready to start dating in front of millions once again – this time as The Bachelorette!
A “source close to Emily” tells Life & Style that ABC has extended the offer and “it’s basically a done deal.” The source says Emily is excited about doing the show: “She hasn’t signed the contract yet, but she’s fully on board.”
For those unfamiliar with Emily’s tragic story, she was engaged to NASCAR driver Ricky Hendrick when he died in a plane crash en route to a race in 2004. Emily was devastated, but later got a small glimmer of good news when she found out she was pregnant with her fiance’s child. Emily and Rickey’s daughter Ricki is now 6 years old and the two still reside in North Carolina. (Want to know more about Emily’s story, read our Emily Maynard background post for the full story with lots of photos!)
^ Emily Maynard and Brad Womack during their “back on again” phase
By most accounts Brad and Emily’s engagement was over quickly, although their supposed on again, off again relationship drug out in the media for months after the finale aired. Although Emily has had nothing but kind words about Brad during and after their relationship, it seems as though she got swept up in the romance on the show and Brad’s sheen wore off soon after taping ended.
Emily would eventually try to quell the media’s curiosity by doing a television interview with The Bachelor host Chris Harrison in which she sort of explained what happened between her and Brad. (In her efforts to try to remain completely positive it seems she left out ay and all of the unpleasant details.)
So what do you think about Emily being the next Bachelorette? I thought she was a charming sweetheart on The Bachelor and the single mom angle should be an interesting twist – so I like it!
Emily Maynard and Brad Womack photo: Splash News
