Charlotte's Emily Maynard makes her debut as ABC's new "Bachelorette" tonight, and Charlotte Observer is all over it. Below is a recent article from Charlotte on why Maynard decided to once again look for love on television.

"The Bachelorette" airs tonight at 9 p.m. on ABC.

Why "Bachelorette" Emily Maynard came back: 'Dating's hard. Why not?'
By Théoden Janes

Emily Maynard’s last relationship failed in the most public, most sensational way possible.

ABC has no comment yet, but both Entertainment Weekly and People magazine are reporting that Charlotte's Emily Maynard will be the next "Bachelorette" for the ABC franchise. The filming of the dating reality series will reportedly move to Charlotte for Maynard's season, so that she can stay close to her young daughter.

On "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette," single people date on TV and compete for the chance to get engaged. Few of the unions last. Maynard was a constestant on "The Bachelor" in January 2011 and beat out 25 other women for the affections of Texas businessman Brad Womack. The two became engaged in the show's finale, but the relationship off screen was rocky and they soon split.

Maynard is also known as the former fiance of Ricky Hendrick, a member of Charlotte's prominent NASCAR family who was killed in a plane crash in October 2004. Maynard learned a week after Hendrick's death that she was pregnant with his daughter, Ricki. The single mother distinguished herself on the 2011 season of "The Bachelor" for always being remarkably graceful and poised -- something rarely seen of the contestants on that show.

Maynard is well-loved by "Bachelor/Bachelorette" fans, so hopefully ABC will keep the awful Ashley/Bentley-type shenanigans to a minimum for once.

It's the least surprising news you will read all day. Charlotte's Emily Maynard has confirmed to People magazine that she and Brad Womack have split. Maynard was romanced by Womack on ABC's "The Bachelor" last year, and the two became engaged in the show's season finale.

Maynard's story made her an instant fan favorite. Maynard was engaged to NASCAR royalty Ricky Hendrick when he and several members of the Hendrick family were killed in a plane crash in 2004. A week after the crash, Maynard discovered she was pregnant with Hendrick's baby. She is now the single mother of a 6-year-old girl.

Unlike most of the women we typically see on these dating shows, Maynard always seemed level-headed, graceful, and poised. Which always made us believe that she could do better than Womack.

The big finale is finally here, and I'm so ready for this to be over. Wait, I mean, I'm so ready to find out who 'Bachelor' Brad Womack picks to complete his life's journey of finding a soul mate. Will it be fun-loving Chantal from Seattle, or the settled single mom Emily Maynard of Charlotte?

Here we go. Let's recap this thing.

Brad and the ladies are still in South Africa, and Brad is waiting for his mom, two brothers and sisters-in-law to show up and help him with his decision. When his family shows up, he cries. Really cries. I notice right away that his twin brother is really cute.

Brad tells his family he's falling in love and intends to propose to someone. They seem sort of shocked. But they are here to meet some bachelorettes, so bring 'em on.

No matter what happens on Monday night's finale of 'The Bachelor,' Charlotte's Emily Maynard will emerge a winner.

The 24-year-old children's hospital event planner has not only survived the season to end up a favorite for bachelor Brad Womack's heart, she has managed to do so with her dignity intact.

Maynard made a huge impression on 'Bachelor' fans in the premiere episode when she revealed her tragic backstory: She was engaged to NASCAR driver Ricky Hendrick when Hendrick and several members of his family were killed in a plane crash in 2004. One week after the crash, Maynard discovered she was pregnant with Hendrick's baby, and she's now the single mother of a five-year-old daughter, Ricki.

Maynard's story may have gotten her easy early sympathy votes, but she really earned America's love with her sweet, southern charm, and by being three things rarely associated with 'The Bachelor': poised, dignified, and graceful.

Brad Womack went on three fantasy dates in tonight's South Africa episode of 'The Bachelor.' But let's be honest, we really only care about Emily Maynard.

The first date was with Chantal. It was nice. They saw some lions, they had a romantic dinner. Chantal told him for about the hundreth time that she loves him (he didn't respond -- at least not that 'Bachelor' producers let us see) and then they spent the night together in an amazing tree house.

Then we got the Emily date. It was great.

Tonight's episode of 'The Bachelor' brought Brad Womack to Charlotte to meet Emily Maynard's little girl Ricki, and to get a feel for what Emily's life is like away from the cameras.

You never know how kids are going to act when they meet mom or dad's new "friend," so naturally, there were plenty of nerves to go around.

But before Brad got to Charlotte, he had a few other stops to make.

Tonight's episode of  "The Bachelor" was more about stress and tension than fun and romance. Brad Womack angered some women and totally humiliated another, but for Charlotte's Emily Maynard, he broke the rules.

Emily got the first one-on-one date with Brad in beautiful Anguilla and in the beginning, the two seemed awkward and self-conscious together. They were all alone on a romantic, private island, and the conversation was forced. Brad told the camera earlier that in some ways he doesn't feel like he "deserves" to be with Emily, but I don't think that was the problem. I blame the awkwardness on the crazy wind whipping Emily's hair around -- she couldn't focus on flirting with Brad for constantly pulling her hair out of her face. When we see her a bit later, her hair is wet and not blowing.

Okay, now we can get down to business.

Tonight's "Bachelor" episode in Costa Rica didn't have a lot of our Charlotte girl Emily Maynard. 

She did have a bit of a close call, though, when she told Brad on a group date that she has a habit of pushing men away and sabotaging relationships. Huh?? Not exactly what you say to our therapist-dependent bachelor.

But Emily recovered nicely on the night of the rose ceremony, getting Brad alone and telling him that she's ready to open herself up to a relationship with him.
 

I was going to streamline tonight's "Bachelor" recap and just focus on Emily Maynard's now-infamous NASCAR date. But turns out that date took up most of the show. So I'm afraid we have another "vapid, rambling" recap. If you're not into that kind of thing (this is a recap of a reality show, for Pete's sake), then you should click away now.

Okay, to set the scene: Bachelor Brad Womack takes the remaining women to Las Vegas, and Shawntel (the funeral director and embalmer from California) gets the one-on-one date. Brad takes her on an over-the-top shopping spree at a super high-end mall in Vegas. She goes back to the house loaded down with bags from Fendi, ????, and ???? and all I can think is how I'm worried she's going to get stabbed to death in her sleep. The women are understandably jealous and Shawntel isn't foolish enough to believe they are happy for her. She changes into a sexy designer dress and has dinner with Brad on the roof of the hotel, where she goes into gross details (which he asks for) about embalming over their food. The night is punctuated with fireworks (literally, not figuratively).