Chrishell Stause Was in Talks to Be the Bachelorette More Than 10 Years Ago

Chrishell Stause may be working as a realtor on Selling Sunset and strutting her stuff on Dancing With the Stars, but the reality star was almost a part of another major television show about a decade ago. During an episode of former Bachelor Nick Viall's podcast, the Viall Files, ABC executive Robert Mills explained that he was in talks with Stause about appearing on The Bachelorette about ten years ago, per Us Weekly. As the executive explained, Stause, who was starring on All My Children at the time, was indeed on the shortlist to become the lead. But, after Brad Womack's season aired, the role went to DeAnna Pappas.

"She would never remember this. I've actually had lunch with Chrishell, this was about 10 or 11 years ago, to talk about being the Bachelorette," Mills told Viall. He also noted that ABC was not producing seasons of The Bachelorette yearly as they do now. "There was like four Bachelors for every one Bachelorette. … At that point, we didn't know who it was going to be, so we were looking for people and our casting director said, 'We should meet with this girl Chrishell Stause, she's amazing.'"

Mills even recalled meeting with Stause at the Beverly Hills Hotel about possibly making her the next ABC series lead. "I was convinced, I was like, 'This is the Bachelorette,'" he said. "Then Brad Womack's season aired, and that's when he let go of both girls and one of them was DeAnna." The executive went on to explain that after high-profile celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres rallied around Pappas to become the next Bachelorette, they couldn't pass up on the opportunity. "This was before we even said we were going to do a Bachelorette. At that point, it was like, 'How do we not do that?'" Mills said of Pappas. "And the whole thing of what could have happened. … Chrishell could have been the Bachelorette and then we wouldn't have had DeAnna and then we wouldn't have thought to have Jason Mesnick. Nick, where would you be right now?"

Viall, who was the Bachelor during Season 21 after appearing on Seasons 10 and 11 of The Bachelorette as well as a season of Bachelor in Paradise, then replied, "I might not be the Bachelor. … [I'd be in Wisconsin] selling software, being some sort of mid-level manager." Even though she didn't end up becoming the lead on The Bachelorette, Stause has certainly made a name for herself in the reality TV sphere. Not only has she appeared on three seasons of the popular Netflix series Selling Sunset, but she is also currently competing on ABC's Dancing With the Stars.