An ABC executive revealed that Chrishell Stause was almost the Bachelorette over 10 years ago and, honestly, it seems like she was just always destined for reality TV greatness! The 39-year-old former soap opera actress currently stars on Netflix’s Selling Sunset and is a contestant on Season 29 of Dancing With the Stars, but before that, she was once so close to leading her own rose ceremony.

In an October 27 episode of former Bachelor Nick Viall’s podcast, “Viall Files,” ABC executive Robert Mills revealed that Stause was a casting director’s favorite for an upcoming season of The Bachelorette—that is, years before she ever met ex-husband Justin Hartley. “She would never remember this. I’ve actually had lunch with Chrishell, this was about 10 or 11 years ago, to talk about being the Bachelorette,” Mills said. “There was like four Bachelors for every one Bachelorette. … At that point we didn’t know who it was going to be, so we were looking for people and our casting director said, ‘We should meet with this girl Chrishell Stause, she’s amazing.’”

Mills went on to reveal that he and the “awesome” Kentucky-native did end up meeting at the Beverly Hills Hotel. At the time, Stause had a role on All My Children, but Mills was apparently “convinced” that she was their next Bachelorette. “I was like, ‘This is the Bachelorette,'” he said. “Then Brad Womack’s season aired and that’s when he let go of both girls and one of them was DeAnna.”

Bachelor Nation might remember DeAnna Pappas, who was heartbroken after Womack’s season in 2007. Mills recalls how producers had no choice but to give Pappas a chance as their season 4 Bachelorette. “At that point, it was like, ‘How do we not do that?'” he said.

But there’s always the question of… what if things had gone differently? Mills and Viall went on to wonder what the franchise—and their lives—would have looked like. “Chrishell could have been the Bachelorette and then we wouldn’t have had DeAnna and then we wouldn’t have thought to have Jason Mesnick,” Mills shared, whereas Viall thought about how his life has changed after becoming the season 21 Bachelor. “I might not be the Bachelor,” he said, [I’d be in Wisconsin] selling software, being some sort of mid-level manager.”

As for Stause: While she missed her window to become the Bachelorette back then, that doesn’t mean the actress still can’t search for love again. The Netflix star is now single after her husband of two years, Justin Hartley, filed for divorce in November 2019—a drama that fans saw play out in full on season 3 of Selling Sunset. Only time will tell what Stause’s relationship status might look like next season!