Neighbours star rumoured to be the 2022 Bachelor after shock split

Just a few weeks after Channel Ten announced that applications were open for season ten of The Bachelor, a major Aussie celebrity is reportedly in the running to be the show’s star.

Neighbours actor Daniel MacPherson is “officially on top of the Bachelor wish list” for producers after he recently split from his wife Zoe Ventoura, according to New Idea.

The publication’s insider claims that producers are hoping to save the show’s dwindling ratings by casting a well-known face, similar to Nick ‘The Honey Badger’ Cummins in season six and Sophie Monk on The Bachelorette.

“They’re on the hunt for a big name this year. They want someone instantly identifiable and well known,” the source reported. “Daniel is a prime candidate… Everyone loves him. He has massive appeal.”

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Daniel joined the cast of Neighbours in 1998 at 17-years-old playing Joel Samuels, a role that was written specifically for him, and won a Logie Award the following year for Most Popular New Talent.

After leaving the soap in 2002 he relocated to the UK and starred in a number of stage productions, before returning to Australia and landing a role in the drama series City Homicide.

He also hosted the first season of The X Factor Australia in 2005 as well as Dancing with the Stars from 2008 to 2014, and most recently had a role in the Disney film A Wrinkle In Time alongside Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon.

Daniel recently revealed that he was ready to start dating again after announcing in December 2020 that he and his wife Zoe had split.

The actors, who met while filming the Channel Seven series Wild Boys in 2011, were married for five years and share a two-year-old son, Austin.

“I’m dipping my toe in [the dating pool] and taking it very slowly,’’ Daniel told Herald Sun earlier this year. “I’m just loving fatherhood.

“Zoe and I are co-parenting and we’re really good, she’s a fantastic mother.”

If the rumours are true that Daniel is going to be the next Bachelor, he will be the franchise’s oldest star at 41-years-old, as well as the first Australian lead to be a single parent.

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