There are some contestants on The Bachelorette that are easily forgettable, but then there are others who end up making an everlasting impression, even if their time on the show was cut short. Such is the case for Joe, the grocery store owner from Becca's Bachelorette season. As soon as he was sent packing on night one, Twitter rallied to his side, confused about how Becca could let such a good one get away. But given his quick rise in popularity, could it be that ABC is thinking of making him the next rose distributor? Will Grocery Store Joe be the next Bachelor and finally get the chance at love he so deserves? The Chicago native has already won over the hearts of many fans, so finding a future wife shouldn't be all the difficult — that is, if he's given the opportunity.
It was announced back in June that Joe joined the Bachelor in Paradise Season 5 cast, meaning he would once again get the chance to try and find love on reality TV. In fact, he'd even hinted as much shortly after his elimination from Becca's season when he revealed to Entertainment Tonight that he is still single but still hadn't given up on love. "I am single … I would like to [settle down]," he told ET. "I just turned 32 in April, I don't want to just continually go out." Many fans took this to mean he was either in the running for Bachelor in Paradise or was even being considered by the network to become the next Bachelor.
There are a couple of different things to consider when contemplating Joe's odds of becoming the next Bachelor. For starters, there's the fact that he's on Bachelor in Paradise. This might actually work against him because it's a lot less common for the Bachelor to be chosen from the BIP contestant pool. However, it's not totally unheard of — just look at Nick Viall, who became the Bachelor after getting a redemption arc, of sorts, during the third season of Paradise.
Granted, Joe doesn't need a redemption arc since he seemed like a genuine, down-to-earth sweetheart right from the get-go. However, viewers don't really know a ton about him yet, given that he was eliminated the same night he stepped out of that limo to meet Becca. Perhaps Paradise will allow him the chance to prove he really is Bachelor worthy once and for all. Or maybe he'll be prematurely tossed aside. You never know what can happen in Mexico, after all. Dean was also a fan favorite until he let things get away from him on the beach, remember?
Taking all of that into account, it feels like Joe's chances of becoming the Bachelor are fairly low. As of now, there's never been a person in Bachelor history who was eliminated during the first night of their perspective Bachelorette season only to later go on and become the next Bachelor. Most of the time, the Bachelor is chosen based on the popularity of someone fans have become emotionally invested in — whether that means watching them make it all the way to the end only to get their heartbroken or making a substantial impact on fans throughout the majority of the season. And as much as Joe may have charmed us at the beginning of the season, his time in the spotlight was way too brief.
Maybe Paradise will change that, but with fan favorites like Jason in the running, Grocery Joe may find himself once again overlooked.
