Greg Grippo is reportedly being considered to be the leading man on The Bachelor season 26, and his uncle allegedly has something to say about it. Recently, Greg has become quite the controversial figure in Bachelor Nation following his stint on Katie Thurston’s season of The Bachelorette. While he was a frontrunner for most of the season (and even received the first impression rose), his self-elimination prompted fans to accuse him of gaslighting Katie. While some viewers believe he was in the right and deserves a second chance, others think Greg should definitely not be the next lead.
While there hasn’t been an official announcement regarding who the lead of The Bachelor season 26 will be, there has been a potential spoiler. The Bachelor franchise is great at choosing polarizing leads that draw people in, whether or not fans are initially against it. They’ve chosen Nick Viall after he had two runs on The Bachelorette and one on Bachelor in Paradise, and Arie Luyendyk after he’d been missing from the franchise for years. Choosing a lead is basically a guaranteed way to divide Bachelor Nation, so it makes sense that they would pick someone a little controversial. According to Reality Steve, it would be surprising if the next Bachelor was not Greg. While ABC hasn’t announced it yet, it seems like Greg could be taking up the mantle next season.
However, an alleged comment from Greg Grippo’s uncle replied to Reality Steve seems to debunk all of this. According to Yahoo Life, a fan account for The Bachelor caught an alleged comment from Greg’s uncle and posted it via Instagram Story. “You are wrong. They offered it to Greg but he declined. They wanted him. It will be Andrew,” Greg’s uncle reportedly wrote, but he then went on to delete it. Instead, Greg’s uncle left another comment, “Well then be prepared to be ‘surprised.’” While this entire thing has been going down, ABC producer Mike Fleiss is also seemingly trolling everyone on Twitter. “Our casting choice for your next #TheBachelor will unite #BachelorNation and solve all of the world’s problems,” Mike tweeted among a bunch of other weird statements.
On Twitter, Mike Fleiss tweeted out that fans will be “happy” with the season 26 lead. “All I can tell you right now is that #BachelorNation will be very happy! Well, maybe not everybody,” he explained. In the past, Mike said that they might reveal the new leading man on Bachelor in Paradise season 7. However, that still hasn’t happened on the show thus far. As such, the fans are still in the dark about their next Bachelor. After the BIP season 7 premiere, Mike Fleiss wrote, “Waiting for final approval for the major announcement.“
Even if Greg Grippo is a controversial choice, there have been many leads that people weren’t very happy about. Alas, they still followed along. For a show that thrives on drama, having polarizing characters may irritate viewers. However, it also draws new ones in. Whether or not Greg is set to be the next The Bachelor, the franchise will always have an audience.
