ABC/Craig Sjodin
Inside Clare Crawley’s Dramatic Exit From ‘The Bachelorette’ — Dale Engagement, Tayshia and More
What … is … happening? Bachelorette Clare Crawley’s dramatic exit from season 16 raised a lot of eyebrows. Although she ended up engaged to contestant Dale Moss, there were a lot of questions about what went on behind-the-scenes.
Like all past contestants and leads, Clare, 39, is currently under contract with ABC, so she is limited in what she is publicly allowed to dish on about the show. However, she’s letting her “likes” on Twitter speak for herself.
On October 24, the leading lady gave a thumbs up to a series of tweets that claimed the reality dating show was giving her “a bad edit” and “trying to force her out.” She also “liked” a tweet that read, “There’s no drama, and the drama that they’ve shown has been dramatized and fixated to make Clare look a certain type of way.”
Life & Style exclusively broke the news on July 30 that the Bachelor in Paradise alum wanted to walk away from season 16 because she had already “fallen in love” with Dale, 32. Talk among production said Dale proposed days later, and they are now engaged. See more spoilers here! Tayshia Adams has stepped in as the new Bachelorette to finish out the season.
There are two sides to every story, however. Show host Chris Harrison responded to rumors that the Sacramento native was pushed out of her season.
“I would just say she has complete control,” the ABC personality told Entertainment Tonight in an interview published on Wednesday, October 28. “This season of The Bachelorette was completely about Clare. It’s all about Clare, and she will decide where we go from here. It’s totally, completely up to her.”
ABC executive Rob Mills also spoke on the hairstylist’s bumpy season during Bachelor Nation alum Nick Viall’s “The Viall Files” podcast on Tuesday, October 27.
“Nothing ever comes easy to Clare. The one time she’s the Bachelorette, she would have been better off in that group setting,” Rob explained. “As the lead, you have moments where you’re like, ‘I’m done, I’m out. [But production never thought], ‘Oh my God, what if they’ve met this person [early on] and we’ve got to shut this whole thing down.’”
The executive did point to the exact moment they knew Clare would need to be replaced. “When she didn’t give out that rose and she just gave it to herself, that was it,” he said. “That was really it, when we started making the call [to replace her].”
It’s been a wild ride!
