The Bachelor Pad, a Bachelor/Bachelorette spin-off, (and Big Brother/Paradise Island knock-off) is set to premiere on August 9, 2010, at 8:00 p.m. EST.

ABC plans to lock up, peep show style, a group of the shows’ former “15-minute-of-famers.” The contestants will live together in The Bachelor mansion and compete against one another. They will also be contending for $250,000 in prize money, as well as continuing to look for love and hook-ups, or at least ABC hopes they will.

Chris Harrison and Dancing with the Stars sweetheart Melissa Rycroft are co-hosting the six-week series. Rycroft, if you recall, was the bachelorette who won Jason Mesnick’s heart, for barely a minute, and was quickly dumped when he decided his heart thumped harder for Molly Malaney.

Some of the “bad boys” and “crazy ladies” from past seasons have been invited to participate and add some much-anticipated drama to the mix.

Remember scandalous and conniving Wes from Jillian Harris’ season of The Bachelorette , and manipulating Michelle, who got an early boot from the Bachelor by Jake Pavelka?

In just a moment the cast will be revealed, and everyone’s favorite punching bag, Vienna Girardi, is not on the list. Could the “Queen of Tabloids” be added to the cast at the last minute? Bachelor Pad cast member Mathau Johnson revealed that he was shocked when a producer woke him at 6:00 a.m. on the first day of shooting, and cut him from the show. I wonder why?  Could the producers have gotten news of the Jake Pavelka, Vienna Girardi break-up and quickly snagged her on the rebound? Let’s hope so, because it would make for some extra-juicy drama and even more tabloid fodder.

And now here are the cast mates.  Drumroll please….

• Jessie Sulidis
• Tenley Molzahn
• Jonathan Novack
• Peyton Wright
• Gia Allemand
• Juan Barbieri
• Jesse Beck
• Ashley Elmore
• Natalie Getz
• Dave Good
• Gwen Gioia
• Wes Hayden
• Nikki Kaapke
• Krisily Kennedy
• Elizabeth Kitt
• Jesse Kovacs
• Michelle Kujawa
• Kiptyn Locke
• Craig McKinnon