wabio

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...en_tv_eo/10830

A Big "Bachelor" Spoiler?
Tue Nov 12, 6:50 PM ET
By Josh Grossberg

All bets are off on The Bachelor. Literally.

Apparently somebody's looking to get rich off of ABC's hit reality show, and it's not just Aaron Buerge and whichever of the two lovely young ladies he's planning to pop the question to on the finale of this season's The Bachelor.

Antigua-based online gambling company BetWWTS.com has announced it is no longer accepting wagers on the outcome of the show after an unusually large number of bets from Buerge's hometown of Springfield, Missouri.

The site says "suspicions were aroused" when, beginning October 31, it started receiving up to nine new accounts per minute from Springfield.

The site says it's hard to believe the overwhelming number of bets can all be chalked up to concidence, especially considering the final rose exchange has already been taped.

"In the past few days we have seen an abnormal amount of maximum limit wagers originating from the hometown of the bachelor, all of which were backing the same woman and forced us to suspend the betting on the show," says Buck Churchill, chief bet manager of BetWWTS.com.

All the bets were for the maximum $300 and all for the same contender, school psychologist Helene, a 6-to-1 longshot. (The Website had the other would-be wife, Brooke, as the 2-to-1 favorite.)

Per custom, ABC refused to comment on the show's outcome.

"It's thrilling that so many people are interested in the program, but no matter what people might speculate and why, the only way to know for sure is to watch the show," says network publicist Lauren Tobin.

Meanwhile, Buerge's agent, Cip Traub, dismisses any talk of a leak.

"I think it's total B.S.," he tells the Associated Press. "I think it's somebody pretending they know--somebody just shooting their mouth off."

Tobin puts the blame on an unnamed Springfield radio station, which supposedly claimed Buerge and Helene were spotted together recently.

"That's not true," asserts Tobin, noting that the one company benefiting the most from the conspiracy theory is the gambling company.

Then again, ABC's not doing half bad. Last week's episode nabbed a series-high 16.3 million viewers and beat NBC's The West Wing (news - web sites) .

As for Buerge himself, the banker turned reality stud is remaining tight-lipped.

"My parent's don't even know the outcome, let alone my friends," says Buerge, who's bound by a confidentiality agreement to keep his selection mum or else face litigation.

Red Dog

Who was the idiot who set those original odds. I would thought the exact opposite - Helene seemed like the clear favorite.

Frankly, I can't believe that they offer up odds on something where the outcome has already been decided. That's why you don't see Vegas offer up wagers on these kinds of things. They know better.

Pants

The "winner" is the chick from alabama, Ryan Seacreast (this gay DJ on the radio out here in LA) let it slip on the air on Tuesday. He didn't say her name, but he said enough hints that it didn't take a rocket scinetist to figure it out.

I too can't believe they would accept wagers. What would prevent the editor of the show, or some studio exec, from placing a wager?

I should add that Seacrest new this info because the two (Aaron and the winner) appeared together at a bennefit dinner in Los Angeles.