According to various sources, The Bachelorette will commence filming next week.
This is very exciting news.
There's just one hiccup. There's just one apparent obstacles:
ABC is yet to actually announce the next Bachelorette.
What could be the hold-up?
As you may recall, producers garnered a great deal of backlash after naming Clayton Echard the Bachelor last year... far in advance of filming, and despite the fact that he didn't advance far during his run as a suitor opposite Michelle Young.
So perhaps they're taking their time now, just to make sure they selected the right woman.
Who might it be? We've narrowed down the contenders to the following popular/polarizing contestants...
SUSIE EVANS walked away from Clayton on Tuesday night.
She took a strong stand after learning that Echard had slept with two other women, while also trying to argue that he was in love with Susie.
"If you feel like you're in love with me, it doesn't make sense to me to sleep with somebody else," Susie said, simply and reasonably.
The thing is, according to these shocking Bachelor spoilers, Susie was convinced to stick around (by either executives or Echard himself) -- only to then reject Clayton's proposal on the upcoming finale!
Such a strong stance may end up sitting very well with millions of viewers.
According to E! News, producers "are being very careful and want to see how the audience reacts to certain contestants in the final weeks of Clayton's season" before making a final selection.
Could they afford to wait all the way until the finale? Especially when the next Bachelorette is typically announced on the After the Final Rose special?
We shall see.
GABBY WINDEY advanced to Fantasy Suite week with Clayton, and then seemingly went all the way with the Missouri native.
"Last night really was just so special. It didn't feel like the first time with somebody new, it felt like the comfortability of home," Gabby said in an on-camera interview post-coitus.
She's quirky. She's outgoing. She an ICU nurse.
And ABC typically does pick from one of the final two or three women.
This means RACHEL RECCHIA would also be in contention.
She also slept with Clayton this week, saying afterward: "I just couldn't have imagined it going any better."
Rachel woudl be first female pilot to serve as a franchise lead, alhough it's worth noting male pilots Peter Weber and Jake Pavelka didn't exactly have smooth skies during their respective journeys as the Bachelor.
This shouldn't impact whether or not she's chosen, of course.
SERENE RUSSELL made an immediate impact on viewers when she brought Echard a jar of fireflies on the season premiere.
She was a fan favorite from the moment we met her.
"I am still looking for my person, the 26-year-old model told E! News at the Women Tell All taping, hinting that she'd be open to The Bachelorette gig.
"So I think any opportunity to do that...if it feels right and if it feels genuine, than I am definitely open."
TEDDI WRIGHT earned Clayton's First Impression Rose awhile back.
A drama-free nurse, Wright is 25 and very much single at the moment.
"I totally think that this process can work, that's the main thing, I trust in this process," Teddi told E! News.
"If it's the right person and you are open to love i think it can be successful. I think anyone who is offered any kind of role in this environment would be lucky and should at least highly consider. I would consider it, for sure."
GENEVIEVE PARISI may not be that familiar to Bachelor Nation residents.
The 26-year-old bartender was sent home in week seven and never even got a one-on-one date with Echard.
But Clayton himself came out of nowhere to be The Bachelor.
"I could see myself going on Paradise," Parisi told E! of her plausible reality TV future. "Bachelorette is a whole other story. I don't think that's right for me. But I am so ready to find love."