<p id=”par-1_95″>Leslie Fhima was considered a frontrunner for the lead in season 1 of <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/the-bachelorette/?swcfpc=1″><em>The Golden Bachelorette</em>.</a> She was considered such a shoo-in for the role that fans were shocked when Joan Vassos was announced as the lead. For months, fans of the series assumed Fhima had turned down an offer to appear. Now that fans have watched <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/astrologer-reveals-the-traits-that-will-keep-chock-chapple-and-joan-vassos-together-and-1-that-could-tear-them-apart.html/”>Vassos find love with Chock Chapple</a>, Fhima is setting the record straight. She didn’t turn down the role. She never had a conversation about it. Would she have been open to appearing if ABC had approached her, though?</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-abc-never-approached-leslie-fhima-about-appearing-on-the-golden-bachelorette”>ABC never approached Leslie Fhima about appearing on ‘The Golden Bachelorette’</h2>
<p id=”par-2_58″>It was easy for <em>The Golden Bachelor</em> fans to assume Leslie Fhima was approached to appear on <em>The Golden Bachelorette</em>. After all, the Minnesota native was a fan favorite, and a redemption arc would have been ratings gold. The network didn’t feel that way. ABC never approached Leslie Fhima about potentially leading season 1 of <em>The Golden Bachelorette.</em></p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/GBC_S1_KA_1080x1350_v3-1_Exclusive.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Joan Vassos in promotional art for ‘The Golden Bachelorette'” class=”wp-image-3697198″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Joan Vassos in promotional art for ‘The Golden Bachelorette’ | Disney</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-3_59″>Leslie Fhima recently appeared on <em><a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.instagram.com/bachmakers/” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>BachMakers</a></em>, a podcast dedicated to Bachelor Nation, to discuss her life and her time on reality TV. During her interview, Fhima dropped a huge bomb. She revealed that she didn’t have a single conversation with the network about potentially appearing as the lead in the series. Frankly, she seemed a bit salty about it.</p>
<p id=”par-4_76″>We have a feeling she wasn’t alone, though. If Fhima didn’t have a conversation, it’s safe to assume that none of the other ladies were approached about the show, either. In fact, it feels safe to theorize that <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/the-golden-bachelorette-ep-joan-vassos-tapped-lead-series.html/”>Vassos was hand-picked by the network </a>as the lead before fans watched Gerry Turner break Leslie Fhima’s heart in a shocking finale twist, despite the network opting to wait months to announce Vassos as the first-ever golden bachelorette. </p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-the-the-golden-bachelor-runner-up-would-have-happily-taken-on-the-role”>The ‘The Golden Bachelor’ runner-up would have happily taken on the role</h2>
<p id=”par-5_55″>Leslie Fhima has seemingly moved on with her life and is open to finding love with a member of Bachelor Nation. In fact, she’s been <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/bachelor-nation-leslie-fhima-says-shes-not-dating-jordan-heller-right-now.html/”>in contact with Jordan Heeler </a>since their sporting match date last month. Still, she would have been just as happy to meet Heeler on the set of <em>The Golden Bachelorette</em>.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-2″><img decoding=”async” width=”1500″ height=”1000″ src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-Golden-Bachelor-Leslie-Fhima-1.jpg?strip=all&quality=89″ alt=”‘The Golden Bachelor’ star Leslie Fhima accepting a rose from Gerry Turner” class=”wp-image-3585943″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Leslie Fhima in ‘The Golden Bachelor’ | Disney/John Fleenor</figcaption></figure>
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<p id=”par-6_60″>During her chat with BachMakers, Fhima revealed that she wasn’t against the idea of taking on the lead role on <em>The Golden Bachelorette.</em> In fact, Fhima was confident in saying she would have accepted the role if it had been offered. She spoke about the possibility of appearing several times before Vassos was announced as the first golden bachelorette, too.</p>