Already have an account?
Get back to the

Matt Leinart, Former NFL Player, Could Have Been the Bachelor Twice!

Matt 7f6e13dc 2ed7 4d14 b158 156c67f86c95
Barry King/Getty Images

It could have been so different! Former NFL player Matt Leinart has been approached not once, but twice, to be the star of The Bachelor, and both times he said no!

Related: PHOTOS: The Bachelor Season 20: Meet Ben Higgins' Bachelorettes!

Despite being a huge fan of the popular TV dating series, Leinart, 32, revealed that he "respectfully declined" the offers but was really excited to have been asked.

The once USC quarterback told Fox Sports Radio (via sportingnews.com) that he was first approached about six or seven years ago, and then again this past fall, while walking around Manhattan Beach.

“It was so random,” he said. “It was two women, and they said, ‘Hey, we’re looking for contestants on The Bachelor, would you be interested?’" the Fox Sports analyst told the radio station, adding that he doesn't even think they recognized that he was famous. "Usually I can kind of tell if they knew who I was or not, but they were just walking around scouting the beach area. It was kind of funny.”

Related: PHOTOS: Celebrities Dating Athletes

While Leinart didn't accept the proposition (he's currently dating Josie Loren and also has a son, Cole, with USC basketball superstar Brynn Cameron), he was amused to discover that Ben Higgins, the latest Bachelor, who became engaged to Lauren Bushnell on the Monday, March 14, show, looked very similar to himself.

The 2004 Heisman Trophy winner even sent out a congratulatory message to Higgins after watching the finale live on TV.

Related: PHOTOS: Celebrity Weddings 2015

"Congrats to my brother from a different mother @benhiggi on finding love on the @BachelorABC," he wrote, captioning a hilarious doppelganger photograph!

In this article

Got a Tip form close button
Got a tip for US?
We're All Ears for Celebrity Buzz!