Emily Maynard, who got engaged to Brad Womack on the season finale of ABC's The Bachelor last year, is single again after that didn't work out ... and will star on The Bachelorette this summer!

"It's official, Emily Maynard is The Bachelorette," an insider close to the show says.

Maynard, whose fiancee passed away in a car crash seven years ago before she learned she was pregnant with his child, was coveted by producers since she broke it off with Brad, but was initially resistant.

Moreover, in order to accommodate the single mother of six-year-old daughter Ricki, "ABC is even going to move filming to Charlotte [N.C., Emily's hometown]. It won't be in Los Angeles at all."

She even had fans convinced she wasn't interested, bluntly Tweeting "I don't want to be The Bachelorette" this summer. Somehow ABC made her change her mind, and the fan favorite will be handing out the roses.

Emily Maynard has been linked to NFL player Jeremy Shockey and Most Eligible Dallas cast member Matt Nordgren in recent months, although she denied dating both. What awaits her in the ABC dating pool?!

It's a great "get" for ABC, but a surprising move just the same, as it seemed that Emily had no interest in the spotlight before, during or after being on The Bachelor. ABC has yet to confirm the casting move.

On a side note, Bentley Williams, who wooed Ashley Hebert on The Bachelorette last summer while telling cameras he wished Emily was The Bachelorette instead, is reportedly interested in competing.

Are you excited to see Emily as The Bachelorette? Would you prefer someone else?

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.