‘The Bachelorette’: These Are the Ladies Bachelor Nation Wants as the Next Lead

As the current season of The Bachelor with Clayton Echard nears the end, it’s time to start looking at the next show to premiere in the Bachelor franchise – The Bachelorette. Producers typically choose a former contestant as the lead for the next season, and Bachelor Nation is already weighing in with their thoughts on who should get the role.

[Warning: This article contains spoilers from The Bachelor with Clayton Echard.]

Fans and ‘Bachelor’ host Jesse Palmer would like to see Teddi Wright as the next ‘Bachelorette’

Teddi Wright stole fans’ hearts the minute she stepped out of the limo on the first night of Clayton Echard’s season of The Bachelor. The 26-year-old surgical nurse caught Clayton’s eye, and she received the coveted First Impression Rose. Teddi and Clayton’s relationship ended right before the Hometown Dates, but fans saw Teddi open up even more during the “Women Tell All.”

Host Jesse Palmer told Us Weekly, “We didn’t see a ton of emotion from her [Teddi] throughout the season until the very last night. Tonight, she really sort of opened up and went there.” He continued, “I thought that was really revealing. I was really impressed with her tonight. I thought she did a great job.” 

Both Serene Russell and Gabby Windey won several votes for who Bachelor Nation want as the next lead

The Bachelor stars Serene and Gabby became fan favorites during the season. Serene’s calm nature and Gabby’s quirky sense of humor lend them each to being perfect candidates for the next season of The Bachelorette.

Us Weekly asked Serene about her feelings about becoming the next lead. “I definitely am open to the right opportunity to find love,” Serene said. “That being said, if it felt like it were the right situation for me, it felt like it was meant for me, I would do a lot of thinking and all of that, but if it felt right, I would probably do it if it meant that I would find my person.”

Genevieve Parisi, who battled it out with villain Shanae Ankney during the “Women Tell All,” thought Gabby would make a perfect Bachelorette. “I think Gabby would just bring such a different element to it. She’s so funny. And as you see, as this season goes on, she really has a great heart, and she’s an emotional person. And it’s hard to see that because she just jokes all the time. She’s always laughing and just joking with people, but she has a very big heart and I think she deserves love so much and she just would be so entertaining to watch.”

Susie Evans seems like the frontrunner for the next ‘Bachelorette’

From early on in Clayton’s season of The Bachelor, fans believed producers were giving Susie the “Bachelorette edit.” Now, it looks as though they were definitely on to something. Sarah Hamrick and Serene also think Susie would make a perfect Bachelorette.

“I think Gabby would just crack me up, but Susie is really funny too. Susie was my roommate, like, the entire time. And we would just stay up all night giggling, cracking up laughing, getting delirious,” Serene Russell said.

Sarah voted for Susie as well, “I could see Susie doing it,” she added. “I think that she’s deserving of it. I think she would handle it very well. She’s always been very genuine to me and has good intentions, so yeah, I wouldn’t hate to see Susie.” 

As for Clayton Echard’s opinion on the next Bachelorette, the former football player refused to say. “I was blessed to have a phenomenal bunch of women that were there with me along that journey, and I think you could make an argument for a great deal of them,” he told Us. “I can’t really, nor would I feel comfortable, though, giving one person my bit of approval. There’s a lot of women that I think would do a phenomenal job.” 

Filming for the next season of The Bachelorette is due to begin shortly. The show will air later this year.