On Monday, Clare Crawley was announced as the Bachelorette, shaking up the show's paradigm and surprising Bachelor Nation.
But with all of the reports about Hannah Brown being courted to repirse the role, fans want to know why that didn't happen.
Us Weekly got a detailed explanation from an inside source about why Hannah Beast is not returning to be The Bachelorette.
At least not this season.
"ABC was after Hannah to be the Bachelorette again," the insider confirms to the mostly-reliable celebrity gossip site.
So what gives?
According to the source, producers had been "asking her for months" to once again be the leading lady looking for love.
"They really wanted her to do it" the insider adds. "But, obviously, it didn’t ultimately work out."
Some reports claimed that Hannah wanted a higher salary for her comeback, but that's not the whole story.
"It wasn’t just about the money," the insider reveals. "There were specific things about the contract too.”
“Hannah had the biggest season," the source says of her turn last summer, "and was hugely popular."
"And so," the source says, "it made sense for them to ask her."
As many of us have heard people whine about or slut-shame Hannah for (gasp) sleeping with her boyfriends, those were just a vocal minority.
Hannah is well-liked by the Bachelor Nation overall, and that was reflected in her season's ratings.
Apparently, Hannah was first approached for the role in December.
The insider shares that Hannah "was close to doing it at certain points.”
The source adds that “ultimately the deal didn’t make sense for her."
Hey, nobody wants to watch a Bachelorette who doesn't really want to be there.
That's true no matter how much they love Hannah B.
"She loves Bachelor Nation and she never wants to disappoint them," the insider emphasizes.
"But," the source reiterates, "it just didn’t make sense for her."
The insider affirms: "She’s moving forward with her life and career."
Of course, some people believe that there's another factor at play here: that Hannah is with someone.
Hannah and her Dancing WIth The Stars dance partner, Alan Bersten, were catching attention even before their dance floor victory.
Some viewers really hoped that the two of them were secretly together, despite repeated denials.
Not every ridiculously good-looking man in her orbit is her lover, folks. No matter how much you may like imagining otherwise.
Speaking of dudes associated with Hannah ...
When Clare Crawley was announced for the role, a number of Bachelor fans declared that this was veritable proof that Hannah and Peter Weber (below) are together.
They think that Hannah turned down the chance to unleash the beast again because she'd already found her Forever Windmill.
Finding a significant other is a great reason to not return to the franchise, but there's no reason to believe that she's with Peter.
There's a more likely reason for which Hannah might balk at a return to the small screen.
Though the majority applauded Hannah for her windmill revelation, a bitter and vocal few began to loudly slut-shame her on social media.
After she went through all of that and then gave her heart to a man who turned out to be a huge liar, maybe she's had enough, right?
And we all know that ABC contracts for their leading stars basically mean that they "own" them for about a year.
Maybe Hannah would like to pursue her own interests without having to get permission for every interview or appearance.