Remember when Jason Mesnick was rejected by DeAnna Pappas on the season finale of The Bachelorette in favor of Jesse Csincsak. That was brutal.

Well, Mesnick has gotten the last laugh - and not just because of DeAnna Pappas' subsequent breakup with Csincsak just a few months after the show.

The Bachelor will return to ABC on January 5 and in its new season, the single dad America fell in love with will be the one doing the choosing.

A two-hour episode will kick off the season - amazingly, the 13th. No star of The Bachelor has married his chosen fiancee from the series. Just saying.

Will 13 be lucky for Jason Mesnick? One can only hope.

The show will return to its usual 90-minute episode format, starting at 9:30 p.m. on Mondays, after the premiere date. We'll be watching.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.