Who Is Kelley Flanagan, a 'Bachelor' Potential Frontrunner?

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published 6 January 2020

Potential spoilers for The Bachelor ahead. Delta pilot Peter Weber flew right into Hannah Brown's heart (yes, I made an aviation pun, sorry) during her season of The Bachelorette and ended up making it to the top four before being eliminated. As 2020's Bachelor, his zen attitude and personality is probably going to mean we'll have some intense female contestants to bring some drama. One of the contestants who's already getting spoilery buzz as a potential frontrunner to the season is Kelley Flanagan, who—fun fact—actually met and totally got along with Weber before the show.

Talk about an advantage: She actually had the chance to, you know, have an organic conversation with him before those awkward intros on night one. And thus far she's proved to have staying power, so she'll be one to watch—at least for the first few episodes. So what do we know so far?

She's a tax attorney.

According to her LinkedIn, she works at Chicago firm Flanagan Bilton LLC. Like Hannahbama, she graduated from the University of Alabama (marketing) and got her law degree in Chicago. If my math is correct, judging by her graduation date, she's 27, so close in age to Weber.

She met Peter before the show.

Oooo intriguing! (It's not like Stagecoach, though, if you watched Bachelor in Paradise—a.k.a. the almighty hookup-fest between former contestants.) This just seems like, according to spoilers, that Flanagan met Weber at a Malibu wedding in August, where they were both guests. They really hit it off, and she was apparently honest with him about appearing on his upcoming season.

We learn in the season premiere of Weber's season that it isn't just Flanagan who thought they hit it off. Weber tells her that he hasn't stopped thinking about her since they met—so, I mean, I'm glad she showed up, because presumably he's expecting to be engaged about ten weeks later?—and she says that the only reason she went on the show was because she believed they had been brought together for a reason. Which is a sweet, authentic, quite un-Bachelor way to meet someone, huh?

No word on whether anything romantic happened at the time, although if it had I guarantee you someone who have spoiled it already. What a stroke of luck, and also, imagine having Peter fricking Weber at the wedding you happen to be attending??

She's popular with him on the show.

So the first group date involved a bunch of the women donning flight suits while Weber dressed exactly like a pilot from Top Gun (pictures here—a bit on the nose, eh, producers?). The women had to deal with putting on life vests and climbing up slides and also apparently there was slime, I don't know. Pictures are here, but apparently Flanagan won the whole thing—meaning she must be athletic, right?? And her prize was that she got to fly with Weber on a one-on-one (pictures here). They hugged afterwards, and obviously she got her rose because she's also been on a recent group date:

(SPOILER): 8 women on the date were: Tammy Ly, Alayah Benavidez, Sarah Coffin, Kelley Flanagan, Sydney Hightower, Shiann Lewis, Kiarra Norman, and Savannah Mullins. Chris Harrison and Fred Willard were the judges.September 29, 2019

Here's everything we know about Peter's contestants so far.

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Katherine’s a contributing syndications editor at Marie Claire who covers fashion, culture, and lifestyle. In her role, she writes stories that are syndicated by MSN and other outlets. She’s been a full-time freelancer for over a decade and has had roles with Cosmopolitan (where she covered lifestyle, culture, and fashion SEO content) and Bustle (where she was their movies and culture writer). She has bylines in New York Times, Parents, InStyle, Refinery29, and elsewhere. Her work has also been syndicated by ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, Seventeen, Good Housekeeping, and Women’s Health, among others. In addition to her stories reaching millions of readers, content she's written and edited has qualified for a Bell Ringer Award and received a Communicator Award.

Katherine has a BA in English and art history from the University of Notre Dame and an MA in art business from the Sotheby's Institute of Art (with a focus on marketing/communications). She covers a wide breadth of topics: she's written about how to find the very best petite jeans, how sustainable travel has found its footing on Instagram, and what it's like to be a professional advice-giver in the modern world. Her personal essays have run the gamut from learning to dress as a queer woman to navigating food allergies as a mom. She also has deep knowledge of SEO/EATT, affiliate revenue, commerce, and social media; she regularly edits the work of other writers. She speaks at writing-related events and podcasts about freelancing and journalism, mentors students and other new writers, and consults on coursework. Currently, Katherine lives in Boston with her husband and two kids, and you can follow her on Instagram. If you're wondering about her last name, it’s “I go to dinner,” not “Her huge ego,” but she responds to both.