It’s been nine weeks since ‘The Bachelor’ finale where we saw Courtney Robertson successfully woo that guy with the bad haircut. Last night we got to settle down and watch Emily Manard embark once again upon her journey (hopefully) toward love. It’s a brave lady who looks for a husband twice on TV and our Emily, darling of the ‘Bachelor’ a ‘Bachelorette’ franchise has done it.

Spoiler lovers will know that Emily has whittled her way down to just three guys, so if you want to know who not to bother getting too attached to, read it here. But if you want a pure, unadulterated wallow in ‘The Bachelorette’ premiere hang on to your seat and here we go!

Cynics like me who love kids and who are skeptical of reality TV as a reliable hunting ground for a future husband and daddy to your young daughter may find this ‘Bachelorette’ season a rough ride. Couple that with the fact that Emily Maynard seems a pretty decent person and expect to shed a few tears and expect me to get mad at some total waste of space guys that are bound to feature this season.

“My ultimate goal in all of this is to meet somebody that I could marry and have children with and that could be that father figure in Ricki’s life,” said Emily.

Newly single host Chris Harrison introduced us to 25 guys hopeful of winning Emily Maynard’s love.

Kalon (25) from Houston: A “luxury brand consultant” with serious money and a cute lisp, especially when teamed with those huge glasses. He aims to be “kind of responsible, down to earth.”

Ryan (31) from Georgia: A former pro-football player now working as a trainer for athletes and kids. He says he thinks Emily is special, and we know she likes sporty types. Oh and he has a cute dog.

Tony (30 or 31) from Oregon: A plywood seller with a 5-year-old son, Taylor. He could be a playmate for Ricki! Oh and Tony is fit! Oh so fit!

Lerone (29) from California: Finally, finally, finally, a black guy finds himself center stage on ‘The Bachelorette.’ He’s a realtor keen to have a family. I loved him up to the point I was told he finds Emily’s status as a single mom “one of the most attractive things about her.” Then I thought that was a bit creepy.

David (33) from New York: He is a singer and dancer who longs to be famous: probably why he’s on this show, rather than to find love with Emily. At this point I so want him to be a douche bag, but we will see. He started well on that quest by apparently trying to sound smart, only to spill out this senence:

“We have all of these disparate facets that ultimately converge.”

Charlie (32) from Tennessee survived a balcony collapse and worked his way back from a severe traumatic brain injury. I was loving this guy, even getting emotional. And then he said: “I may have had a head injury – but there’s nothing wrong with my heart.”

Jef (27) from Utah has a company which provides safe drinking water for those in need so I want to like him. But I found his Peter Pan complex and his primping and preening offputting.

Arie (30) from Arizona is a race car driver. Of course there had to be one. I like Arie, though, and I like his hair. SPOILER: He does quite well this season.

Those seemed the most memorable guys from their intros but others included Doug the “charity director/realtor” is another single Dad with an 11-year-old son, Jackson, the fitness model with the hot pink tie and his awful opening line:

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but the number of moments that take our breath away. This is one of those moments.”

Joe was enthusiastic and spilled some terrible pickup lines. Aaron made me laugh being so corny as to say,

“I’m a high school biology teacher, but I’m here to have chemistry with you.”

I can see the teenagers rolling their eyes from here!

Jef rolled up on a skateboard that he is way too old for if you ask my opinion. But Emily really went for it. Sigh. She’s been spending too much time with Ricki if she thinks that’s entertaining.

She seemed to like Stevie the “party MC” busting his moves but her “I like to dance too” may just have been polite. Tony seemed to do better with his glass slipper as did Randy. But when Nate rocked up it was once again clear that masculine guys are who Emily goes for.

“He’s so cute!” she dreamily whispered.

Yes. He is.

John seemed to have an identity crisis, informing Emily that everyone calls him Wolf. Well, we won’t be doing that. Even for the couple of weeks we possibly have to write about him.

Travis spoiled his first impression for me as a sweet guy with his analogy of “this egg represents you and Ricki.” That’s just weird. OK we all came from eggs; it’s not something we need to dwell on.

Michael gave Emily a guitar pick to remember him by. Alejandro from Colombia/San Francisco showed off his Spanish to say how ‘hermosa’ Emily looked. Ryan played it simple and sweet, telling Emily she was beautiful, which just made Kalon’s entry by helicopter seem all the more effected.

Wolf John won some of my respect back at this point by declaring,

“Whoever this is, we’re all gonna hate him.”

“Golly, I’m nervous,” Emily giggled.

Yes, I would be too, faced with these 25 guys as my choices for life partner. Getting te chance to spend some time chatting with her, they made their attempts to impress.

Brent showed her the photos of his six kids (run for the hills, Emily). Charlie pretended to bite off Emily’s finger (where do they find these nuts!). But my personal favorite intro time (if not really the guy himself) was Chris who brought in two bobbleheaded dolls, carved to look like Emily and him. Sadly we couldn’t be allowed to watch more of that and we had to endure Emily telling us how impressed she was with Jef who made “a great first impression” right after we (but not she) heard him say,

“Her fiancé, Ricky, died in a plane crash, and so I think she deserves the best.”

It’s sad and all, but not quite how it works.

Doug brought in a letter from his 11-year-old son telling Emily why she should choose his dad.

“I think you should know that my dad is one of the greatest dads ever, because he always tucks me in at night… and he is always giving me hugs.”

I love that boy (Austin). I don’t care what the bribe was to get him to write that letter, I still love him. Can Emily wait a few years for him instead?

Stevie and Kalon clashed almost immediately, as Stevie felt his rival was hogging Emily’s attention. All this gave Arie time to tell Emily about what he does for a living and upon finding out he’s a race car driver her eyes widened almost imperceptibly, but her composure didn’t crack. Arie had to know, though, “Like, are you ok with that?” It took Emily a noticeable amount of time to be able to reply, “Yeah, I am.”

But (thankfully, I think) a letter from your son trumps arriving in a helicopter or any other high jinx the hopefuls cooked up. Doug got the First Impression rose. I admit it: I’d have given it to Doug too.

Chris, Ryan, Kalon, Arie, Charlie, Jef, Nate, Sean, Joe, Kyle, Aaron, Alejandro, John, Alessandro, Michael, Stevie, Tony, and Travis all got roses.

Of those going home, Brent was a bit of a surprise for me, but I lost sympathy when he responded to his exit with “The kids will be sad.”) Jackson perhaps regretted the pink tie. Randy and David were never likely to get far anyway and neither was Lerone.

So, so far, I’m loving Emily Maynard’s ‘Bachelorette’ choices but am rather disturbed that I would have pretty much made the same choices. Is she about to drag me along on an emotional roller coaster ride? Oh I do hope so. Bring it on!

Doug Clerget was booked December 10, 2000 for assaulting his baby mama with a gun. Star magazine obtained the police report. The heated exchange between Doug and his girlfriend “got physical when he pushed her and held her against the wall.” That’s apparently when Clerget went for a shotgun, stormed into the backyard, and began firing at the ground.  His now ex-girlfriend called cops at the time, believing he committed suicide. He allegedly “physically abused” the woman’s daughter “in the past.”

Early last month a spoiler for “The Bachelorette” 2012 was published that Doug abruptly left his hotel while dates were taking place in the Czech Republic. Details were scarce, but a source claims he wasn’t willing to make a move on Emily after she asked. With this latest development of learning more about contestants on “The Bachelorette,” it’s a mystery as to whether Emily discovered the truth about his background while on the show. Did she find out from him personally during a one-on-one date if that’s so or was she alerted to it from someone else? When dirt comes out on anything for “The Bachelorette” — or “The Bachelor” — it tends to answer a lot of questions. If Emily hears any man was even rumored to hurt another woman’s child, it’s a no-brainer she’d let him go.

Even for Emily Maynard’s season, a patterned formula still exists for the reality franchise. There’s almost always at least one or two contestants with a police record.

“The Bachelorette” 2012 premieres Monday, May 14th at 8:00 p.m., ET/PT on ABC.

Chris Bukowski was eliminated at the rose ceremony last Friday night in LA, according to Reality Steve, which leaves her last three guys as Jef Holm, Sean Lowe and Arie Luyendyk Jr.

They all get overnight dates but so far, unfortunately, neither Steve nor I have been able to find out the destinations.

Madrid has been mooted as the destination for the Final Rose ceremony but that is a very, very tentative suggestion at this stage.

But I do know beyond all reasonable doubt that Jef, Sean, and Arie are Emily’s final three.

We have some Bachelorette premiere spoilers, too, courtesy of ABC’s official press release. We know that Tony makes like Prince Charming and presents her with a glass slipper. Jef  skateboards in. Party MC Stevie dances for Emily. Travis offers her a gift with a special meaning for Emily and her daughter. (Can’t wait to find out what that is!) And Kalon lands in his private helicopter.

Once inside the Bachelorette mansion, Brent, a single father of six, shows off his family photos. How did he get time to be on this show!) Arie is scared to tell Emily he’s a race car driver in case it reminds her of her late fiancé, Ricky Hendrick. And Doug, another single dad, shares a tender moment with Emily, bringing with him a touching letter from his 11-year-old son.

The letter obviously worked because apparently it’s Doug who gets the First Impression Rose. He went on to get his first one-on-one date inBermuda, but obviously didn’t make it into Emily’s final 4.

Oh and get this: Nate Bakke’s name isn’t Nate Bakke. It’s Jeff Maly. Jeffrey Colin Maly to be exact. Nate Bakke is the guy’s stage name, even though this is basically the first “acting” gig he’s ever landed. Growing up he was known as Jeff Maly, and all close friends know him as that, according to Reality Steve.

I can’t wait to see ‘The Bachelorette’ premiere next week. I really want to know what’s in that letter from Doug’s son!

Just this afternoon, Mike Fleiss, series creator, made some interesting Tweets.  They have got us Bachelorette fans buzzing and trying to guess what he means.

According to Reality Steve, Emily Maynard is down to her final four guys and is halfway through filming her hometown dates. That’s what makes Fleiss’ Tweets all the more intriguing.

This afternoon, he Tweeted,

“@Emily Maynard just delivered another bachelorette first!” then added, “@Emily Maynard goes her own way…”

What could he mean!

We know she recorded her date with Chris Bukowski on Friday and was in Utah with Jef Holm for their date Sunday on. Today she should be traveling, ready for her date with Arie Luyendyk, Jr. tomorrow. Ther final hometown date, with Sean Lowe, is scheduled to be in Texas on Thursday.

So what happened Sunday to have Mike Fleiss sending such a Tweet?

Did she cut Jef early, without even waiting for the rose ceremony? Did dhe set off early to spend extra time with Arie? Or…(squeal of excitement)…is Emily wanting to bring back one of the guys she decided to cut earlier in the season and is now missing? Or did she throw a complete hissy fit and throw it all in to fly home alone? (Granted, the latter is not likely.)

I don’t think, as some people have speculated, it’s that Emily promised someone a rose prior to the hometown dates. That’s been done before. In fact, it’s exactly what Brad Womack did to Emily on ‘The Bachelor.’

Well known drama creator Fleiss may be referring to something really boring and nothing at all to do with the season. But I am itching to know what he means. Aren’t you?

“The Bachelorette 2012” featuring Emily Maynard’s search for love premieres on Monday, May 14.

“Emily is amazing! She’s such a sweetheart,” said Fedotowsky, who recently split from her 2010 Bachelorette boyfriend Roberto Martinez. “If anyone deserves to find love, it’s her.”

‘Us Weekly’ caught up with her at the Hot Hollywood party on Wednesday at Greystone Manor in West Hollywood.

And did you know that Emily likes guys with tattoos? That’s apparently what she told Ali. So expect something a little different to Brad Womack’s season of ‘The Bachelor’ where she apparently fell in love with the clean cut protagonist.

Emily’s first one-on-one date was filmed on March 16 when she dined at the Italian eatery Osso with Ryan Bowers (31). She later danced the night away with the Atlanta-based gym owner at a Gloriana concert. But apparently she only hugged him and kissed his cheek at the end of the date. There was no lip-on-lip action, according to insiders. We’ll have to watch out for that?

What do you think to Ali Fedotowsky’s view that Emily Maynard deserves to find love on the reality TV show this time? Was Brad Womack too clean cut for her?

Filming on Emily’s season of The Bachelor reached the Final Four stage this week. Reality Steve is excited by his “awesome” spoilers and we’re sure you will be too. This is the earliest he has ever got the low-down on the final four.

So who are the last four left in The Bachelor 2012?

Jef Holm is the 20-something CEO of People Water. He hails from Pleasant Grove, Utah.

Sean Lowe is a 28 year old model and insurance salesman (every model needs a backup plan, right). He comes from McKinney, Texas.

Chris Bukowski is in his mid-20s, a sports marketing manager from Chicago, Illinois. He went to a Luke Bryan concert with Emily.

Arie Luyendyk Jr. Is a 30-year-old race car driver from Scottsdale, Arizona (and we already know Emily likes race car drivers). He went to Prague with Emily.

So those are who Reality Steve says will be Emily Maynard’s final four on her upcoming season of The Bachelorette. Watch it from Monday, May 14 and see how the season pans out and whether Reality Steve has his info correct already.

Nathaniel Claybrooks and Christopher Johnson, two Nashville natives have filed a class action lawsuit against ABC and the producers of ‘The Bachelor’ franchise, claiming deliberate discrimination against people of color (African-Americans, Latinos, and Asian-Americans).

The two African-American men and their lawyers consider this a “landmark civil rights case that will move social justice and economic equality forward.”

Both Claybrooks, an entrepreneur and former all-American football player, and Johnson, an aspiring NFL athlete and active community servant, applied during an open casting call for The Bachelor and The Bachelorette in August 2011.

Claybrooks claimed that he was interviewed for less than half the time of white applicants in front of him. Johnson alleges that he fared even worse. He was apparently stopped just inside the door and asked what he was doing there.

Both men felt they were unfairly dismissed because of their race.

Lawyers for the men claim that executive producer and defendant Mike Fleiss’ insistence that the show does not get a enough applicants of color was “just pretext. We think they purposely do not want people of color on this show.”

He estimated there have been dozens, maybe even hundreds of contestants turned away based on race, As he pointed out, in all of the 23 seasons, there have been no Bachelors and Bachelorettes of color.

He went on to state that ‘The Bachelor’ franchise is sending a bad message to America: “a message of exclusiveness — of denying people opportunity — and that has a negative effect on this country.”

The men refused to discuss their financial goals for the case. They instead speak of it in terms of “a vehicle for change.”

Warner Horizon Television, one of the producers of ‘The Bachelor’, responded to the allegations on Wednesday, saying they are “baseless and without merit.” They point out that the hopefuls looking to attract the attention of the Bachelor or Bachelorette come from a diverse ethnic background. However, the lawsuit focuses on the homogeneous casting of the starring role, which in recent years has been chosen from among the top three contestants from a previous season.

She definitely has bags of Southern charm, but Bachelorette host, Chris Harrison, admits that there’s more to Emily Maynard than meets the eye. He was speaking today on Live With Kelly when he said that Emily is

“Perfect on a stick.”

Google translator didn’t no what to make of that one so I have no clue what he means. Do you?

Anyway, Harrison went on to say a few things we all know: that has a killer smile, a great body and bags of charisma. But he warned viewers against being fooled by her.

“She’s a pistol. She’s sweet until the time she’s not.”

Ahh OK.

Emily (25) and the lucky guys hoping to woo her are currently filming in Toronto. Filming started in Emily’s home town of Charlotte, N.C. but has also already taken in Bermuda and is set to head to other exotic locations.

There have been rumors lately that Emily signed up for The Bachelorette for the money and the exposure, she is adamant she is looking for love on the show.

“But if any gents are there for the wrong reasons, beware of the wrath of Emily,” Chris Harrison warned.

“I genuinely meant that. I feel like the biggest hypocrite because I said that and now I’m doing it.”

So what changed her mind?

Apparently, despite what happened to her on The Bachelor with Bras Womack, Emily still believes she can find love on the show.

“I fell in love the first time and no, we didn’t end up getting married, but in the end just falling in love, for me, is a success.”

And I would think that at least part of how Emily was convinced to take on The Bachelorette season 8 was that she negotiated at least some of it being filmed in her hometown of Charlotte, N.C.

We know now that the show will again take us to exotic locations like Bermuda, which has already been filmed, but at least it started at home, which single mom Emily thought was important for her daughter, Ricki.

So how is The Bachelorette affecting Ricki?

The filming apparently largely does not involve her and Emily said her daughter is “certainly not meeting the guys,” but she’s excited to go on vacation with Mommy.

At the time of the interview, Emily admitted she is “scared to death” to be The Bachelorette. Hopefully she has settled in to it now. We are already excited to see her search for love again and the show doesn’t even air until next month!

Emily is no stranger to the ABC franchise. She fell in love with Bachelor Brad Womack and won the final rose in season 15. Brad proposed to her and gave her a $90,000.00 ring (the most expensive in Bachelor history). Emily accepted the proposal but things soon went wrong between the two of them. Brad blamed himself but who knows?

Emily’s personal story is one filed with triumph over tragedy. She lost her first fiancé, professional NASCAR racer Ricky Hendrick, in a plane crash; the couple had been dating since they were 15 years old. Six months before Hendrick died, he proposed to Emily and just a few days after his death, Emily found out that she was pregnant with her daughter Ricky, who is now 6 years old.

Emily’s first priority has always been her daughter and that has not changed. In season eight Emily insisted that ABC move the entire production of the show to North Carolina in order to not disrupt Ricki’s home environment. Emily must have a lot of pull over at ABC because they agreed and filming began last week.

Now come The Bachelorette SPOILERS for Emily Maynard’s season so if you don’t want to find out what happens, then stop reading right now. Only keep on reading if you want to know which Bachelor returns, about the group dates,  seven of the men and who the are, the first elimination and more…

Bentley Williams will return! Remember him? He was a contestant on Ashley Hebert’s seventh season of The Bachelorette when she pulled him aside during a group date to discuss how former Bachelor villain, Michelle Money told her that Bentley was only on the show to promote himself and his business. Bentley stormed off, claiming that he missed his daughter too much to say. He later revealed that his exit was more because he was disappointed that in season seven Emily Maynard was not the new Bachelorette. Woohoooo! So now she is, will sparks fly? Will he have gotten over missing his daughter so much (no I don’t think that’s why he left, either, but since it was his excuse… well, she still exists, right?)

On to some spoilers of The Bachelorette group dates. One of Emily’s dates will be at a winery in the Charlotte area, the only region on earth where you’ll find every major type of grape grown in the world. Another group date will be at the Booth Playhouse in uptown Charlotte in which all the proceeds will benefit the Levine Children’s Hospital, a place where Emily has done volunteer work in the past and the Muppets will be in attendance.

We can also tell you details of seven of the guys who will be competing for Emily Maynard’s affections, courtesy of Celebrity Dirty Laundry.

1. Ryan Bowers, a gym owner in Georgia; he’s a muscle guy who has played a lot of football.

2. Tony DeSarro, a Senior Associate at KPMG Forensic Technology Services in Georgia; he likes music and has even recorded a few songs.

3. Joel Gilson, a Medical Sales Rep for Stryker from Iowa; he has also played a lot of football.

4. Doug Clerget, Vice President at Kidder Matthews in Washington; he’s a father to an 11 year old son named Austin.

5. Travis Pope, an Account Executive for the Clarion Ledger newspaper in Mississippi; he was previously engaged to Lauren Jones, CEO of Lauren Jones Footwear and she and Travis were pitching a reality show, Chasin’ Dreams with Lauren and Travis, before they split.

6. Jef Holm, a young entrepreneur from Utah.

7. Aaron Martell, really good looking guy from Sydney, Nova Scotia.

So now you know about eight of the guys including Bentley. It’s soon to be nine but you don’t have to worry too much about remembering this next guy because the first person  sent home, apparently even before Emily meets him, is actor and model, Ben Smith. He was definitely there ready to be cast, but for some reason, he was let go. Apparently he was not even told why, so there has to be some story there.

Rumour has it that Emily Maynard’s season of The Bachelorette will premiere on May 14th, 2012 in her hometown of Charlotte, NC. Of course, we’ll give you all the details as and when we know them.