She made the move. Bachelorette contestant Dale Moss‘ ex-girlfriend, Seema Sadekar, was the one who “broke off [their] relationship” years before his engagement to Clare Crawley, an insider exclusively tells Life & Style. “I don’t have details what exactly happened,” the source adds. “Based on how happy they looked, I was a bit surprised when they broke up.”

“Seema and Dale were deeply in love. As a couple, they were very nice,” the insider gushes. “They looked very happy whenever I saw them together. They dated for a few years and their families were very close.” The source notes the “last time” they saw the former flames “together” was “three years ago.”

“They definitely were a gorgeous couple. When they walked into a room, it was like everyone was looking at them,” the insider continues. “They were just that kind of couple, like the ‘it’ couple. They just seemed so in love and so happy, and they’re both beautiful! They would go to a lot of fancy VIP events — definitely a social couple.”

The former couple was together “for a while” their split, a separate insider previously told Life & Style. But Dale, 31, moved on from the pro golfer, 34, in a big way. After their breakup, the football player relocated to New York City.

“When I met him, they had just broken up. My impression was he always wanted to get back with her,” the source dished. “When it comes to girls, she’s the one he would talk about the most.”

But it seems like everything changed after Dale joined The Bachelorette. Life & Style exclusively broke the news on July 30 that season 16 lead Clare, 39, threatened to quit appearing on the dating reality series because she had already “fallen in love” with the NFL player after just 12 days of filming.

Bachelorette Clare Crawley’s Fiance Dale Moss Wanted 'a Serious Relationship’
ABC; Gregory Pace/Shutterstock

Days later, Life & Style exclusively revealed former Bachelor contestant Tayshia Adams would be stepping in to finish the season in the hairstylist’s place — and Clare and Dale were officially engaged.

The new couple’s timeline seems pretty fast … but the pair were “in some sort of contact” before filming began, a third insider previously revealed. Having some time to get to know one another off-camera while production was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic seems like the perfect way to make a lasting connection — and Clare and Dale clearly did.

Reporting by Diana Cooper