Now that The Bachelor: An Officer and a Gentleman has come to an end, with (one hopes) love found for Andy Baldwin, the producers of The Bachelor are already in the process of scouring the country for the next lucky fellow and the women who will be angling for his heart.

However, there are rumors circulating that the producers of The Bachelor are encountering an obstacle in the casting process that no one had anticipated.

According to The Daily Dish column in the online version of the San Francisco Chronicle, the producers of The Bachelor have had to turn away a "substantial number" of the bachelorette hopefuls because they tested positive for herpes and/or other communicable diseases.

The column says that a show insider reported the dish originally to the National Enquirer, saying, "Some of the best looking women have been told recently that they didn't pass the medical portion of the test due to herpes."

The story has been picked up and run by many gossip blogs, but beyond the quote above, there does not appear to be a lot of further details or confirmation. The situation seems tailor made for a punch line, so much so that one can’t help but wonder if the item was planted by a Tonight Show staff writer or someone else looking for a laugh.

If the report is accurate, this could potentially slow down the production of the next season of The Bachelor considerably. According to the lengthy eligibility requirements listed for applicants, the medical information collection and physical don’t take place until the semi-finalist stage. Any significant percentage of applicants dropping out that far in the process could require additional interviews, casting calls and auditions.

The Bachelor’s casting website lists no open calls scheduled since May, so if there have been any setbacks, they have been of a scale that the producers have been able to manage without requiring too many additional rounds of selection.

BuddyTV will keep you updated as additional details around this, or other topics related to the next season of The Bachelor come to light.

- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist