When she was a student at Western Reserve Academy, Caila Quinn was voted “most likely to host her own talk show.”
She may be getting closer to that dream. New signs, including local sightings of Quinn with a camera crew on Wednesday, suggest she will be getting more national TV time, probably through one of the shows in the Bachelor family.
The former Hudson resident was on the current season of The Bachelor but was eliminated in Monday’s telecast when bachelor Ben Higgins sent her home in favor of two other women. She will be on The Bachelor: The Women Tell All next Monday night on ABC, but that show has already been recorded.
She has been much talked about as a likely star of the next season of The Bachelorette — or possibly one of its two stars. In 2015, that series began with two women and had the 25 men vote on which one should stay the entire season.
On Wednesday, when asked about being the Bachelorette, Quinn said: “It’s something I definitely would consider. My No. 1 priority in life is to find the one for me. So if it works for others, it could work for me.”
But when asked about it Thursday, an ABC representative said, “Sorry, but we can’t comment at this time.”
Step2 CEO Chris Quinn, Caila’s father, said, “I cannot confirm.”
There is another show in the looking-for-romance bundle on ABC: Bachelor in Paradise, where former members of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are brought together to “explore new relationships.” It is due back but there is no airdate yet.
And ABC has long looked for ways to take advantage of the Bachelor name. Before Bachelor in Paradise, there was the similarly themed Bachelor Pad. Holly Durst, who was born in Akron and grew up in Suffield, wound up marrying another contestant, Blake Julian.
So, while it still seems that Quinn and The Bachelorette are made for each other, there’s a chance she will have another TV home.
In any case, there she was in Hudson with that camera crew, stopping in Main Street spots such as the Open Door Coffee Co. and the Grey Colt women’s specialty store. Katie Coulton, owner of the Grey Colt, saw Quinn and some friends out on Main Street, and folks coming up to her. Coulton does not watch the Bachelor shows but said Hudson has been abuzz about Quinn.
You could see that buzz on social media, for example in a tweet by Allison Zullo, a student at the Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. “Perks of spending spring break in Hudson: seeing @CailaQuinn outside of your mom’s office!” Her mom, Kathleen, works in Brewster Mansion.
Coulton, meanwhile, said, “I went out … and I asked [Quinn] if I could take her picture outside the Grey Colt for … social networking,” Coulton said. “She was very, very nice about it.”
Not only did Quinn pose for the photo, she told Coulton that she bought all her mittens in the Grey Colt. And as Quinn and Coulton talked, a videographer shot footage of them; Coulton had to sign a release so the scene could be broadcast.
But when they asked if the footage was for The Bachelorette, the videographer “wouldn’t say yes or no.”
Quinn’s visit to the Open Door was brief — no more than a couple of minutes, when Quinn and a friend bought cookies and made small talk. But it appears that Quinn likes it there, too. She stopped in the Open Door with Higgins when she came back to Hudson last fall as The Bachelor visited hometowns of the top four contenders.
It also appeared that Quinn stopped by Western Reserve, since she had taken Higgins there and to the Step2 factory in Streetsboro for The Bachelor.
Western Reserve has not answered queries about Quinn’s visits even as it posted online about its famous alum.
“When Caila attended WRA: she was field hockey captain; received our Head of School Award, awarded to seniors who display leadership, positive energy and selflessness,” the school posted on social media. It also pointed out votes for her talk-show potential, “best hair” and “best smile.”
We’ll see where she shows off that smile next.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal, Ohio,com, Facebook, Twitter and the HeldenFiles Online blog. You can contact him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.