Could Convicted Drug Smuggler Schapelle Corby Be The Next ‘Bachelorette’?

Fans of convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby are petitioning to have the notorious “celebrity” become the next contender for Australia’s The Bachelorette.

As the Daily Mail points out, Schapelle Corby is considered a “surprise frontrunner in the race for next year’s Bachelorette” contenders. The 41-year-old convicted drug trafficker from Queensland has spent the good part of a decade behind bars in Bali’s Kerobokan Prison after she was found guilty of possessing more than four kilograms of marijuana that was crammed into a bodyboard bag.

Now, fans of Schapelle are using a Facebook event page in an effort to encourage Network Ten and producers Warner Bros. to get on board and make Corby 2019’s Bachelorette.

“The Bachelorette needs to represent the true everyday woman,” the campaign states. “A woman that knows the ups and downs of world travel.”

It also states that Schapelle Corby would be perfect as next year’s Bachelorette on account of her “strong sense of family” and the fact that she “isn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty.” Her other potential Bachelorette winning attributes include her “experience in risk being small business ownership” and having an “entrepreneurial spirit.”

Could Schapelle Corby be the new 'Bachelorette'? https://t.co/tMWHXtJmD9

— MSN Australia (@MSNAustralia) August 27, 2018

It is unclear here whether the reference to “small business” is in regard to that bodyboard smuggling mess in Bali or the fact that she released her autobiography, My Story (repackaged as No More Tomorrows for the international market), to help earn an income while she was in jail. Of course, thanks to Australia’s stance on proceeds of crime, the funds from that small business startup were frozen by the Queensland Court of Appeal.

Now, the Facebook page is claiming that Schapelle Corby is “ready to take back the 11 years she’s lost,” and that is why she would be perfect to fill the role of The Bachelorette 2019.

Previously, as the Dail Mail points out, Schapelle has found love — from inside the confines of the Bali prison. Corby met Ben Panangian during a church service inside Kerobokan Prison. Both were in jail on account of drug offenses.

However, as a result of Corby no longer being welcome in Bali and Panangian not allowed into Australia because of his criminal history, it appears that their love has faltered. However, the couple did meet up in Singapore and Vietnam earlier in the year.

Already, the Facebook page has garnered interest by at least 12,000 individuals. However, it is unclear just how seriously Channel Ten and Warner Bros. will take this request. Schapelle Corby has also not yet made an official statement on whether or not she would be interested in becoming 2019’s The Bachelorette.