<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Season chronology </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> ← Previous Season 16 Next → Season 18 </Td> </Tr> <P> The seventeenth season of The Bachelor premiered on January 7, 2013 . This season features 28 - year - old Sean Lowe, a former Kansas State football player from McKinney, Texas . Lowe placed third as a contestant during the eighth season of The Bachelorette with Emily Maynard . The season concluded on March 11, 2013 in which Catherine Giudici was named the winner and eventually became his wife, Lowe and Giudici are currently living in Irving, Texas . </P> <P> Casting began during the airing of the sixteenth season of the show . First "The Bachelor" approached Tim Tebow, then - quarterback of the Denver Broncos; but he never signed an agreement . Lamar Hurd, a sportscaster from Portland, Oregon, had been another potential candidate, vying to become the first African - American "Bachelor ." Other rumored possible candidates included The Bachelorette season 6 winner Roberto Martinez, Lowe's fellow The Bachelorette castmate Arie Luyendyk, Jr. (runner - up from Maynard's season), and eleven - time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte . Luyendyk dropped out to focus on his racing career . Martinez and Lochte also declined . Luyendyk would go on to become the star of The Bachelor five seasons later . </P>

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