ABC has confirmed it has ordered a new The Bachelorette edition that is currently slated to air this summer.
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The Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss had previously told Entertainment Weekly that ABC was planning to air a new season of The Bachelorette -- the first since the show's third season aired nearly three years ago -- for broadcast next summer back in November, however the network wouldn't confirm Fleiss' comments at the time.
The Bachelorette first premiered in January 2003 and featured original The Bachelor runner-up Trista Rehn as the object of affection. More than 30 million people watched Rehn choose Ryan Sutter as her man during ABC's February 2003 broadcast of The Bachelorette's first season finale.
Ten months later, ABC aired a three episode series that detailed the events leading up to their December 2003 wedding ceremony. Over 17 million viewers watched Rehn and Sutter exchange vows on ABC's Trista & Ryan's Wedding finale broadcast. The couple welcomed their first child -- Maxwell Alston Sutter -- late last August.
The Bachelorette's second installment premiered in January 2004 and starred The Bachelor fourth-season third-place finisher Meredith Phillips. She selected Ian McKee during the show's February 2004 finale broadcast, which drew 13.5 million viewers, and the couple ended their romantic relationship in February 2005.
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The Bachelorette's January 2005 third edition starred Jen Schefft, who had originally accepted a marriage proposal from Andrew Firestone at the conclusion of The Bachelor's Spring 2003 third installment. However she called off her nine-month engagement to Firestone in December 2003, opening the door for her to star in The Bachelorette.
Schefft went through the motions and narrowed the field down to only two guys, Jerry Ferris and John Paul Merritt, but eventually rejected the marriage proposals of both men in the end.
She's since penned a relationship guide about living single and recently voiced her support for The Bachelor eleventh-season star Brad Womack, who also rejected both of his remaining suitors -- Jenni Croft and DeAnna Pappas -- during the show's finale broadcast.
ABC is keeping mum on The Bachelorette's fourth-season creative details -- including the identity of the season's bachelorette -- according to Daily Variety. However should the show continue its pattern of casting from The Bachelor's pool of previously jilted bachelorettes, Pappas has already made it clear she'd be interested in the role.
"Of course I would," Pappas told Reality TV World after Womack rejected her for a second time during The Bachelor's After The Final Rose broadcast in November. "I believe in the experience and I believe that it can truly happen, and it happened for me. I'm sorry that Brad didn't have the feelings on his end, but I believe it and I think it can happen and I would be honored if they asked me to do it."
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Croft reunited with her former live-in boyfriend immediately after The Bachelor's filming. "He picked me up from the airport when I got back home from the show," she told KZZP-FM in late November. "I am in a happy relationship now and it couldn't be better."
Chris Harrison will return as The Bachelorette's host, a show spokesperson confirmed to Reality TV World on Friday.
The Bachelor's twelfth installment will premiere Monday, March 17 at 10PM ET/PT on ABC.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio