Brad Womack, the former Bachelor, has opened up about an awkward moment he had while appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. During the January 20, 2025 episode of the Almost Famous podcast, Womack, 52, recalled the experience with a sense of humor.
“I went on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and I just bombed. I mean, I just bombed,” he said. “Even the publicist at the time kinda gave me the puppy eyes, like, ‘Oh that didn’t go so well.’”
Womack also reflected on a comment DeGeneres, 66, made about him during his first appearance on the show. “She called me a jerk the first season because I didn’t pick anybody,” he explained. “Thank god, she asked me back for a little bit of redemption. But it was the third time I was on Ellen to announce the second season.”
Womack was the lead on season 11 of The Bachelor in 2007, where he famously chose no one at the end of the show. He returned as the lead for season 15 in 2011, where he became engaged to Emily Maynard.
However, their engagement was called off several months after the finale aired. Maynard, now 38, went on to become The Bachelorette in 2012, where she accepted a proposal from Jef Holm.
Their relationship ended later that year. Maynard later married Tyler Johnson, with whom she shares five children and her daughter Ricki, 19, from her late fiancé, race car driver Ricky Hendrick.
Womack described how he felt going into his appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, saying he was “a ball of nerves,” especially since it was at the moment when he realized, “I’m about to do this thing again.”
He admitted it was a nerve-wracking experience and added, “She didn’t cut me any slack, of course, and the audience wasn’t having it. It was a bad appearance. But yeah, she did call me a jerk, but thank god she apologized.”
When asked why DeGeneres apologized, Womack speculated that she may have learned more about his side of the story. “Not picking anybody the first season, of course I became public enemy No. 1 right away,” he explained.
“That was not my intent, I wanted to stay true. I said this so many times, I really do believe in the premise of the show. I just didn’t want to sell-out.”
He continued, “I think [Ellen] took her initial reaction and was thinking, ‘Who does this guy think he is?’ And then I guess through, I don’t know, some other channel she got the true story, and she invited me on. I was able to tell my side of the story and so it went a little bit better. I got a little bit of redemption, but not much.”
Since his time on The Bachelor, Womack has kept his romantic life out of the public eye. However, on January 1, 2025, he confirmed a new relationship with a woman named Gabriella.
“We’re having a lot of fun together. She’s an inherently kind human being,” he shared. “I’m really happy. We’re really happy together right now.”