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The Bachelor's Chris Harrison Picks Front-Runners! Plus, Is Emily Maynard Really the Next Bachelorette?

ABC host spills on "explosive" new episode and casting rumors

By Jenna Mullins Jan 11, 2012 11:00 PMTags

Even though we're only a few weeks into this season of The Bachelor, Chris Harrison is no fool, and he can already tell who the audience views as possible winners. And he agrees with your expert assesment!

So which two ladies are leading the race for Ben Flajnik's heart? Plus, Chris gives us his take on the rumors that Emily Maynard is the next Bachelorette…

"There's always the dark horse and there's always the front-runner. We always spin it and twist it," Chris says to our own Kristin Dos Santos about guessing the ladies in the lead. "Obviously, right now Casey B. [is a] homerun, kind of southern sweet. And then there's Courtney, the hot model, who's also the front-runner, I think for different reasons."

Could it be the fact that she's a hot model?

ABC

We also brought up the rumors circulating that Emily Maynard has already been cast for the next season of The Bachelorette, but Chris wouldn't take our bait. He only offered us this tease: "I'm hearing the same rumors. And if those rumors are true, I will be over-the-moon excited. I don't know if they're true, but I've heard the same thing and man, I hope its true. She's a rock star!"

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. We just started this season of The Bachelor, after all, and Chris says there is plenty of drama ahead, especially in next week's episode. "The real story is the cocktail party when someone from Ben's past returns, and someone from our past as well," he says. "It is explosive. I might as well have rolled a grenade in the room. I knew the women wouldn't be excited, but I didn't think it would be so nuclear meltdown. Ben was like, 'Are you kidding me?'"

Check out our full interview with Chris Harrison up above, and then hit the comments to spout your Bachelor wisdom: who's the front-runner? And do you think Emily would make a good Bachelorette?