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Bachelor Casting Scoop: Juan Pablo Is the “Front-Runner”; Find Out Who Else Is in the Running!

Other finalists from current season are in the running

By Kristin Dos Santos Jul 24, 2013 4:26 AMTags
The Bachelorette, Juan PabloABC/Craig Sjodin

Caliente y muy popular.

We're not wizardos (does that mean wizards?) in Spanish, but we're pretty sure that means "hot and very popular." And that's precisely what our Bachelor source cites as the reason Juan Pablo (from Desiree Hartsock's season of The Bachelorette) is "the front-runner" to become the next Bachelor.

"The ladies seem to love him, and he's really good-looking and personable," says a source who works on the show and is involved in the casting decision.

Still, nothing is final, accoring to insiders. Not everyone in production or at ABC has signed off on 31-year-old Juan Pablo as The Bachelor, and there are two other guys who are still in consideration, should Juan Pablo fall through: Whoever does not end up with Desiree out of the current Bachelorette finalists, Chris, Brooks and/or Drew.

We are told there aren't any new candidates in the running who were not a part of The Bachelorette, which is currently in its ninth season.  

ABC does not comment on casting rumors.

So, Bachelor Nation, who would you pick? Who's the best next Bachelor?

READ: Bachelorette alum Ali Fedotowsky blogs about the Men Tell All special

Juan Pablo Galavis is a Venezuelan-American professional football player who retired in 2009 in order to stay inMiami with his daughter, now 4. He had a very real physical connection with Desiree, but not much more, and she cut him loose in episode six in one of the more surprising eliminations of the season.

Brooks is a 28-year-old sales and marketing agent (and part-time model) fromSalt Lake City. Despite being (spoiler alert!) rumored to win, he admitted in a past episode that he's not as in love with Desiree as she is with him.

Chris is a 27-year-old mortgage broker from McMinnville, Oregan. He won over desiree in their hometown date by taking her to a little league field where he used to play.

And Drew is a 27-year-old digital marketing analyst from Scottsdale,Arizona. He might be the prettiest of the pretty boys ever to appear on this show. Sweet, but Desiree doesn't seem all that interested.

ABC will air The Bachelorette finale as a "two-part finale," with the first part airing this Monday. The Bachelor casting announcement is expected within the next two weeks.

Now tell us which guy you would pick for the next Bachelor in our comments section!

When we chatted with Galavis after the Men Tell All taping, he was a little hesitant about the idea of becoming the Bachelor and dating 25 women at once.

"That's pretty tough. I saw Desiree, what she went through. I hate hurting people. I hate hurting girls. I hate looking at girls cry," he told us. "It'll be very tough. I have a family, my daughter. Being away from her was very tough. It's going to be a very tough decision to make."