Fall 2020’s Bachelorette was scheduled to be Clare Crawley, the former runner-up on the 18th season of ABC’s The Bachelor and star of Seasons 1 and 2 of Bachelor in Paradise. However, there have been reports from a number of sources that she has been replaced by Tayshia Adams, Season 23 Bachelor finalist and fellow Bachelor in Paradise alum.
The reason for this is reportedly due to some romantic intrigue on the quarantined film set. Earlier in August, the person behind the BachelorNationSpoilers Instagram account posted on the show’s Reddit saying that, “production is having a lot of problems with Clare” and “they are recasting her with Tayshia.”
This was reportedly due to Clare falling in love with contestant Dale Moss very early in the show, which led to her canceling dates with other contestants.
So far, there has been no confirmation of the switch from ABC. However, Adams has not posted on social media for a while, and US Weekly has reported that a group of backup contestants were called in two weeks into filming.
This could mean one of two things for this year’s Bachelorette. Either they will completely scrap the footage filmed with Crawley and start again with Adams, or the show will incorporate this shock twist into the series itself and have Crawley leave the series mid-way.
According to TMZ, who also reported that Crawley had liked a post about Adams being the new Bachelorette, the show is going to do the latter, meaning we could potentially have two Bachelorettes this year.
If this is the case, then Adams will become the second-ever black lead on the ABC dating show.
A source told E! News: “The producers have told her that the season will still lead with Clare and her short-lived journey, and will show Clare falling in love with one of her suitors. Clare will then conclude her journey and announce that Tayshia is the lead.”
According to numerous reports, things could be very serious indeed between Moss and Crawley. A source told Life & Style that the pair are already engaged after quitting the show after just 12 days.
Though over 20 contestants have quit The Bachelorette and The Bachelor in its many seasons so far, Crawley would be the first lead star to leave the show before the end, making the fact this season was shot in quarantine not the only history-making thing about it.
The Bachelorette Season 16 is coming soon to ABC.
