Brad Womack
Gossip

In the dramatic, now-infamous final rose ceremony on the November 19 season finale of The Bachelor, Texas bar owner Brad Womack made reality TV history when he said goodbye to both the show's finalists.

Both real estate agent DeAnna Pappas and Phoenix Suns dancer Jenni Croft were stunned - along with millions of The Bachelor viewers at home.

Brad Womack gave some vague explanations in a special after-show, but now, he is telling Us Weekly the real reason he let both lovely ladies go.

"DeAnna and I had something that's pretty special. But I did not see this crazy love that would turn into a lifetime," says Brad Womack, who is still single.

"I'm still looking for the same things that I said all along â€" a best friend, a life-long partner and someone to fall madly in love with."

Brad Womack says honesty was his policy with Jenni Croft and DeAnna Pappas.

"I just didn't want to lead anybody on," the hunk maintains. "I was very honest with both of the ladies about that."

Brad Womack went on to talk about what he thinks about his still-single status - and respond to swirling rumors that he is actually gay.

He had no comment on the speculation that he was most smitten with a third contestant, Bettina Bell, but was turned off by a bad hometown visit.

We've talked at length about Brad Womack and his shocking rejection of both Jenni Croft and DeAnna Pappas on the season finale of The Bachelor.

We've been searching far and wide for reasons, for possible insights into the mind of Brad Womack. Now an insider has shed new light on the matter.

According to TV expert Kristin Veitch of E! Online, the real reason behind Brad Womack's stunning, unexpected decision to choose neither Jenni Croft or DeAnna Pappas in the season finale was, in reality, neither Jenni nor DeAnna.

Turns out, the reason may have been the girl he really had fallen for on the show, who had fallen out of the running a week earlier. Her name? Bettina Bell.

Says a rock-solid source: "Brad was really into [Bettina Bell], who made it to the final four. But when he went to visit her parents, Bettina's father was so awful to him, Brad knew it wouldn't work. So, he was just sort of over the whole thing."

Brad Womack visited Bettina's childhood home in the sixth episode of the season and Bell's father apparently sealed his daughter's fate when he stated he was "disappointed" by Brad's lack of a college degree and his career choice.

Sure, a smitten guy might look past that, but this is reality TV, people. Brad had, of course, only known Bettina Bell for a few weeks, and being humiliated on national TV is not exactly the makings of a long-lasting family bond.

So does this make Brad Womack's actions better or worse?

Obviously it still hurts for DeAnna Pappas and Jenni Croft, who had their hearts ripped out, and for viewers, who felt like they got robbed like Kim Kardashian at the airport. But this new info sure casts a different light on Womack's blunder.

As we reported last week, Mary Delgado beat the crap out of Byron Velvick. This season's finale of The Bachelor made fans want to do the same to its current star, Brad Womack, as well as ABC for blatantly misleading them.

ABC's promotional push for last Monday's season finale of The Bachelor has some viewers feeling they were duped hard, the N.Y. Daily News reports.

ABC promoted The Bachelor all week using a clip in which Brad Womack said he found the one. The clip was accompanied by the sound of a woman crying.

Based on the promo, die-hard viewers of the long-running series expected Brad found true love, or at least the reality TV show equivalent of it.

What they got was anything but.

After a week-long blitz of promos promising the "most shocking" rose ceremony in history, and a season of interviews in which Brad Womack himself proclaimed to be "very happy" with the outcome, and even clips of Womack picking out a freaking engagement ring, the 11th bachelor and ABC pulled a fast one.

He chose neither DeAnna Pappas or Jenni Croft.

Viewers felt like they were left at the altar by Brad Womack.

"I have been watching The Bachelor series from the very beginning ... but this is IT FOR ME!" wrote a frustrated fan on the show's message board.

"I cannot believe that ABC would air a program that ended this way when it was clearly nothing but lies and manipulation on Brad's part."

Hell hath no fury like a viewer scorned.

"I guess we got wrapped up in the fairy tale of it. Many of us used The Bachelor to believe," wrote another fan. "Unfortunately ... now none of us will believe again. Thanks, ABC, for breaking our hearts! Too bad Brad was the bachelor to do it."

Womack's blunder means, no insane, desperate woman on The Bachelor has ever married her man. Shocking. An ABC spokeswoman had no comment.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at The Hollywood Gossip. What would this traditional holiday be without family, friends, food, football and reflection upon some of the things we most appreciate in our lives.

For this celebrity news site, that means expressing thanks to some of the biggest turkeys we've come to know this past year. Below is a look at our staff's Top 10 (take a wild guess who was voted our Biggest Turkey of the Year) ...

10. Riley Giles. Not only does he give Lindsay Lohan a good stuffing, this clown is a meathead to the max. See mug shots. Yeah. Prime turkey material.

9. John Mayer. Makes the list in spite (or perhaps because) of the fact that he dates Minka Kelly. Guy's dome is also roughly the size of Plymouth Rock.

8. Michael Vick. Oh, wait, he's a dog.

7. Jan Adams. Worst. Doctor. Ever.

6. Brad Womack. Worst. Bachelor. Ever.

5. Dancing with the Stars judges. These losers really dropped the ball this season with some dubious decisions. Sabrina Bryan was robbed worse than Native Americans by the New World's European settlers. Close, anyway.

4. Spencer Pratt. The Hills villain sure can gobble up publicity.

3. Heather Mills. Imagine the kind of Thanksgiving feast you could throw after gold-digging your way to more than $50M of your ex-husband's fortune!

2. Blake Fielder-Civil. Raging alcoholism. Massive quantities of hard ass drugs. The surprise wedding. The bloody melee. A barroom brawl. Some witness tampering. This holiday, Amy Winehouse's husband should be thankful he's alive.

Fnally, The Hollywood Gossip's Biggest Turkey of the Year award goes to ...

1. Britney Spears. Talk about a foregone conclusion. Like the New England Patriots of the NFL, it was Britney Spears in her own league and everyone else playing for second. We raise a turkey leg (and some pork rinds) to you, Brit.

The Hollywood Gossip has been blowing up with people weighing in on Brad Womack and his shocking no-decision on the season finale of The Bachelor.

Last night, Brad faced the music in the form of both Jenni Croft and DeAnna Pappas, as well as all of America, to answer questions on his inactions.

Despite feeling "misled" by Brad Womack, Jenni Croft said she's disappointed in how Womack did the same to DeAnna Pappas, especially giving her a ray of hope just as he dropped the "but" and broker her heart. Nice one, Brad.

Jenni Croft says Brad should have given someone a chance, even in the form of dating. DeAnna Pappas still seems confused, angry... and into Womack.

Brad Womack then arrives to a mix of applause and boos. He says that he made his decision because he didn't want to make false promises to the girls.

Neither Jenni Croft (left) or DeAnna Pappas did it for Brad Womack.

We learn that Brad actually asked the network fly DeAnna Pappas' father out for the final ceremony, so Brad could ask for her hand in marriage - but his gut told him something was wrong when he went to buy the ring!

Jenni Croft rips Brad Womack for not at least giving either woman a chance and he says it "hurts deeply" to have Jenni lose respect for him.

Brad says to DeAnna that he thinks about her every single day, and it sounds like maybe he might be going to throw us for yet another loop by taking her back!

DeAnna hints that she would accept such a chance... and Womack replies that he's "very confident" in his decision, crushing her once again.

DeAnna Pappas can't hold back and cries to Womack, telling him that "[You're] the one person that I trusted most out of all of this, and you broke my heart."

Brad Womack's response: "I thought I was taking the high road." But was he?

For Jenni Croft, it was not meant to be.

For DeAnna Pappas, it was not meant to be, either.

Brad Womack threw viewers a curveball last night as The Bachelor star did not give a final rose to either of his remaining ladies - Jenni Croft or DeAnna Pappas - during the season finale. His decision left both in tears.

"The fact that he didn't pick either one of us is harder to deal with," said DeAnna Pappas, a 25-year-old realtor and bartender from Neunan, Ga., who was rejected after Brad Womack had sent Jenni Croft packing.

"This is one of the worst feelings in the world... telling someone how you feel about them and they kind of just reject your feelings," Jenni Croft, a 27-year-old Phoenix Suns cheerleader hailing from Wichita, Ks., said. "[That's] the reason why it's so hard for me to tell people how I feel."

Brad Womack sits alone with the final rose, having chosen to dole it out.

After both girls had gone and met Brad Womack's family, Jenni Croft and DeAnna Pappas each had one more chance to impress Brad during a final set of solo dates. Then it was time for the big showdown ... who would it be?

Neither. Brad Womack said that he could see both DeAnna Pappas (left) and Jenni Croft (right) being his wife and found himself in quite a quandary. In the end, he found a unique and historic way out of this jam.

ABC will air a special The Bachelor: After the Final Rose episode in which Brad will explain his move and Jenni Croft and DeAnna Pappas get a shot at some additional answers from Mr. Womack on Tuesday, November 20. Should be hot.

Hopefully Brad Womack gets his ass beaten with a sock full of quarters by both of these vengeful ladies. Now that would be a surprise twist.

Take a look at how last night unfolded, from the family visits to the final rose ceremony, read our comprehensive episode guide to The Bachelor ...

On tonight's finale of The Bachelor, Brad Womack will be bringing home two  women to meet his family. One of which will receive the ... final ... rose.

In one corner, we have 25-year-old Realtor, part-time bartender and full-time Southern gal with a strange and hot name, DeAnna Pappas.

In the other corner, we have 27-year-old Wichita native and Phoenix Suns dancer (and former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader), Jenni Croft.

Will Brad shock the world choose Jenni Croft, with whom he's had obvious  hot chemistry since the beginning, and who, despite her focus on her career which might keep them apart, has worn her heart on her sleeve from the get-go?

Or will he go for DeAnna Pappas, the more demure beauty with whom he seemed to have some initial sparks, and whose terrific family visit seemed to really hit the mark with the wholesome family man Brad Womack?

An NBA dancer like Trista Sutter, Jenni Croft (above) has seen her stock rise from the beginning. She's made it known throughout that she wants to do her own thing in life, not just be the girlfriend of the guy who owns four bars. She has "priorities of her own" - like shakin' that cute butt in front of 20,000 NBA fans 41 times a year. Nonetheless, Brad Womack seems to really dig her.

On the other hand, he seems to adore DeAnna Pappas (above). Deanna has emerged as the clear favorite in the eyes of many viewers, seemingly possessing the whole package our hunk is after. Our guess is that ABC is overselling the chemistry with Jenni Croft and trying to plant some doubt around Deanna Pappas. But we've been wrong before when it comes to The Bachelor.

Who will it be, DeAnna Pappas or Jenni Croft? Only time will tell. Tonight.

The women tell all, and they don't hold back. The Bachelor's penultimate episode was, as usual, dedicated to the special in which the gaggle of rejected babes get to ask questions and go off on Brad Womack. Standard operating procedure.

We relived some of the most memorable moments this season with the ladies who didn't quite make the grade. In addition to rehashing their departures and some of their epic meltdowns, the women then placed their bets on whether Jenni Croft or DeAnna Pappas would win Brad Womack's heart on next week's finale.

Follow the Gossip's link to relive the drama or catch up on everything you missed last night in this official guide to The Bachelor: The Women Tell All!

Having said his farewells to Sheena Stewart, only three women remained for The Bachelor star Brad Womack: Bettina, Jenni Croft and DeAnna Pappas. Which pair would remain after this week's fantasy dates, and who got the boot?

Brad had his first date in Cabo San Lucas with Jenni Croft, swimming with the dolphins. Next, Brad enjoyed a day of sailing with Bettina, and last, raced dune buggies with DeAnna Pappas, who he admitted strong feelings for. Hot diggity.

Brad Womack: Down to the wire in search of love.

What's next? Who's on their way home as the other two prepare to meet the family of Brad Womack and gear up for the biggest moment of their lives?

For either Bettina, Jenni Croft or DeAnna Pappas, it's the end of the line. Follow the link to read all about it in our episode guide to The Bachelor...

On last night's episode of The Bachelor, Brad Womack visited the hometowns of the four remaining aspiring wives - Bettina, DeAnna Pappas, Jenni Croft and Sheena Stewart - to meet their families and get a taste of their life.

The results? Mixed. Brad Womack certainly hit it off with some families, but he experienced awkwardness and straight up rude and unwelcoming behavior from others. Basically, he finally saw what it's like to have in-laws. Sucker.

Brad Womack: Looking not, doing his thing.

By the end of the evening, Brad Womack had winnowed the field from to three - three very lucky ladies he will take on romantic overnight getaways.

For Bettina, Jenni Croft, Sheena Stewart or DeAnna Pappas, this is it. The last rose ceremony. Follow the link to read about it in our episode guide to The Bachelor!