Bachelorette 16 - Clare Crawley & Tayshia Adams - Media SM - *Sleuthing Spoilers*

An update on "Bachelorette" filming...what to believe? I talk about what I know today at: https://t.co/R5hA7Lu0DB. Enjoy...

— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) August 11, 2020

Been a crazy few weeks since the “Bachelorette” started filming on Saturday, July 18th at the La Quinta Resort & Spa in La Quinta, California. And no, it’s not to be mistaken for the La Quinta Inn which are normally right off the freeway and somewhere you stay at for $50 a night as you drive across the country. Different place. Like, by a gazillion times. But within the last week to ten days, a lot of media reports out there with “sources” and “insiders” telling them what’s going on, although none of these reports have really been able to nail down any specifics of anything for that matter. We get media stories every season, but this is a little bit different due to the nature of the situation being that Clare’s season is in one location, they aren’t traveling anywhere, and that location is basically on lockdown, so it’s not like civilians can get in and out. The pictures that have gotten out are all from photo agencies/paparazzi. There’s a lot to digest here, and if you haven’t followed on Twitter, IG, or watched my IG lives, I’m gonna catch you up on some stuff I’ve said on there. If you do follow all that, some of this will be repetitive. But since I haven’t written in a while, I wanted to put it all into a column that people can refer back to whenever. From what I’m being told, there seems to be a lot of misinformation being put out by the media sites, and that’s what I want to clear up today.

What I will say though is, you may not believe what I say today. Which is fine. Because it goes against the narrative being portrayed by the media right now. But I believe where and how I got this info is solid enough to report on. I guess it’s up to each of you individually to determine what narrative you believe. After telling you what I’ve heard, I’ll dissect this narrative and give my thoughts on it. Here’s some of the different things we’ve seen written in the media over the last week or so about Clare’s season:

-Clare quit filming
-Clare locked herself in a room and didn’t show up for a date
-Clare was being difficult and was essentially “fired” her job and replaced by Tayshia
-Clare was a problem on set, production didn’t want to work with her, and they let her out of her contract
-Clare and Dale had a pre-show relationship, that once they arrived on set, was impenetrable, therefore she decided to stop her own season and “run off” with him
-Clare got her phone back because her Twitter account liked a tweet about Tayshia being the new “Bachelorette”
-Clare and Dale are engaged

Those are just a few of the things that have been said. But you get the gist of it. Reading between the lines, essentially this narrative has been it’s been Clare controlling everything – from a pre-show relationship, to demanding to quit, to not showing up for dates, etc. What I’m here to report is that’s not what I’m hearing. In fact, I’m hearing the opposite. When I heard the report Clare and Dale were engaged, the ONLY thing that made sense to me was that “oh, well they must’ve been talking pre-show. Because if not, that means she got engaged to someone after 2 weeks (remember that part).” Logically, it was the only conclusion I could draw IF an engagement had happened. Otherwise, that’s a really quick engagement, and for someone like Clare who we know falls fast and hard (and yes, because I’m biased, someone I’m actually rooting for this season), I think a 2 week engagement would not look great for her in the public eye.

One thing NONE of these media outlets have reported on is Dale’s stance on all of this. Clare has all these feelings, Clare has fallen in love pre-show, Clare only wants Dale, Clare didn’t give any of the other guys a chance, Clare’s gonna regret this, etc. The question I kept asking myself is, don’t two people have to want this for this to all be true? Why is everything being pinned on Clare and we have no idea what Dale’s take on all of this was? Of all these stories being reported, if all true, Dale would have to be complicit as well in everything, no? Clare can want him every day of the week and twice on Sundays, and Clare can be willing to stop down a whole season for the guy, but if the guy doesn’t reciprocate those feelings, none of this happens. So where does that leave the whole situation? Here’s what I can report…

Clare and Dale are together. Whether they are engaged or not, I do not know. I would think a media outlet wouldn’t report they were engaged if they weren’t, but then again, I did during Colton and Cassie’s season, so I guess it’s possible. And again, it’s also Life & Style, who seems to write a new story every day, some even contradicting previous stories. But know this, Clare and Dale are together, Clare’s “Bachelorette” season in particular is over, and Tayshia has taken over as the next “Bachelorette.” So that part of the reporting, the basics, has been correct. And I think everyone has come to accept that over the last week or so. What I’ve been told is that this narrative of Clare being difficult, production not knowing what to do, Clare having a pre-show relationship – are not true whatsoever. So however Michelle Money knew, she was correct. Clare did not have a pre-show relationship with Dale heading into the show. Now, you can dissect that further all you want, but I’m talking about they were talking/texting/FaceTiming heading into the season, he had a leg up on everyone, their relationship had been established outside of seeing each other physically in person, etc. That I’m told did NOT happen. I’ve heard it’s just like Michelle said in her IG story, that Clare took a liking to him based on his IG feed and stories, liked what she saw, and definitely was the one guy who caught her eye heading into the show, possibly to the point where she had blinders on to the rest of them. But reports there was a pre-show relationship and this was planned between them is false.

Which brings us to Dale. What makes this information different than the media outlets is I’m hearing Dale felt the exact same way about Clare heading into the season. Like, to the point of when they met, sparks flew. She knew how much she was into him (as we heard Michelle detail), but apparently Dale revealed how much he had dug into her past and how excited he was to meet her as well. And from the beginning, basically no one else stood a chance. It was once producers noticed Clare and Dale’s chemistry that they realized they had a problem on their hands, and, in probably the biggest difference I’ve heard from what the media is reporting, is that it was production’s idea to go to Clare with a suggestion of, “Well, what do you want to do here? It’s clear you’re into him and no one else” kinda thing. And that’s where production had to think on the fly about what to do next and, eventually, settled on bringing in Tayshia as the “Bachelorette.”

Yes, I know. This brings up a ton of questions. Namely:

1) Clearly other leads felt this way in the past about someone they connected with early. Why did they suggest this to Clare and not any of the previous 39 leads?

Good question. My guess? This was going to be a different, almost boring, season from the get go due to COVID, one location, no travel, etc. So instead of fighting Clare on this, they embraced it, and they’re using it as their big “twist” this season. The fact ABC won’t even address that Tayshia is their new “Bachelorette,” even though everyone and their mother knows she is, kinda lends credence to my guess I think. They just want this as their twist on an otherwise plain season we were headed towards because of what COVID did.

2) But if there was no pre-show relationship, how could Clare and Dale really know THAT early they only wanted each other?

Fair question. The answer is, they can’t. I mean, they can, but how much of it has to do with the show, competition, and “winning” so to speak, versus, are these two people who just connected so immediately, there is no way to describe it. I’m guessing this is an answer we won’t actually truly know until we see Clare and Dale interact on screen. Trust me, I’m certainly skeptical of it. Because as mentioned earlier, a pre-show relationship actually made sense to me. Now you’re telling me that these two decided it was only gonna be them after two weeks, sure, I need more time to see this play out. As I’m sure plenty of you do too. The naysayers I’m sure will jump all over Clare for this. I’m not sold either now. But I’m willing to see how it played out in real life before I pass judgment. That’s where my bias comes in, sure. Normally I probably would laugh this off. I just hope this guy isn’t in this to “win” and it be a competition thing and it’s truly that he fell for her at basically first “sight.”

3) What about the whole locking herself in a room and not coming out for a date part? Did that happen?

I don’t know for sure. I think some variation of it happened, but not necessarily the way the media is portraying it. I’ve heard some things but nothing solid yet. Considering the media has been off about the narrative up to this point, I’m skeptical to immediately believe that. I heard it was more about protecting Dale than anything else, but like I said, still don’t know all details.

4) So how many rose ceremonies did Clare have before they shut her down essentially as “Bachelorette?”

I’m hearing four. Then Tayshia was brought in.

5) Which guys does Tayshia get? Just the ones that were left on Clare’s season?

As far as I know, yes. They reached out to guys who never made cast, and guys who had been eliminated in previous rose ceremonies from Clare, but I have not heard of one guy that went back to filming. So Tayshia’s guys are whoever was left on Clare’s season, and possibly any new guys that were asked who never were part of the 32 names back in March, or 42 names announced in July. I guess that’s possible as well.

6) Why are all these alumni being brought in? Is it another “Bachelor Pad” or “Bachelor in Paradise?”

No. All the alumni you’ve heard reported (and have photographic evidence of) down in La Quinta are just there for cameos (Becca, Hannah Ann, Jared & Ashley, Sydney Lotuaco, Wells, etc). This is Tayshia’s “Bachelorette” season now and they are just making appearances because, well, it’s a different season, we have no summer show so to speak, and this is just a way to I guess keep others involved so you can see them on your TV during the summer. But no, there isn’t a second show being filmed alongside Tayshia’s “Bachelorette” season.

7) Why is Dale in South Dakota, as evidenced by pictures this past week and him responding to someone on text?

No definitive answer on that. What I do know is that Clare and Dale are together, and possibly engaged. Him being in South Dakota really doesn’t change anything in the dynamic of their relationship. Maybe he asked to go home for a little bit. I gotta believe if he comes back to the bubble, he wouldn’t have to quarantine that long because of where he was. Which leads us to…

8) So what is Clare doing now?

As I said on the live Sunday night, Clare is in La Quinta (or that surrounding area) until filming is over. She’s not back in Sacramento, nor is she in South Dakota with Dale. ABC hasn’t even addressed she’s no longer the “Bachelorette.” There’s not a chance in hell they are taking the chance on having her seen back home or in Dale’s home state. She’s with production until filming ends. So her liking that tweet over a week ago didn’t mean she got her phone back. Someone is monitoring her account. Whether Dale comes back, or they sent him off to SD to throw people for a loop, I don’t know. My guess is Dale will be back in the bubble before filming wraps to spend more time with Clare. I mean, I’m surprised he left in the first place now knowing now these two didn’t have a pre-show relationship. Why would he just do two weeks with her, take off for back home, and not return? So yeah, I think he’s headed back at some point, will quarantine for a few days, and they will film more stuff with Clare and Dale together to show their relationship in the bubble.

We know that nothing happens on this show without production knowing. So there will be a lot of skepticism regarding their role in all this. During COVID, Clare absolutely was speaking to her producers on a daily basis. I’m sure they were well aware that Dale was at the top of her list going in no doubt, but, they also knew there were a bunch of guys (not even guys from the original 32), that she hadn’t even known were possibly cast yet, so she couldn’t have even looked them up. But I do really think that Clare and Dale caught them off guard for how strong and how quick their relationship seemingly happened. Because if production was really in on this, and they knew the whole time, “Ok guys, heres what’s gonna happen. We know Clare likes Dale. We’ll start her season, she’ll fall for Dale, we’ll let her go, and we’ll bring Tayshia in,” then why would they possibly send guys home who were eliminated or never made the first night? Wouldn’t they keep them in La Quinta, and just say like “Hang on, you’ll know why we’re keeping you in a few days.” I just don’t see it.

Do I think production LOVES this storyline with Clare and Dale, and instead of fighting it, decided they had a major twist on their hands this season and just rolled with it, hence the reason they started calling guys to ask if they were willing to come back? Yes. I think Clare and Dale might just actually be a once-in-a-blue-moon whirlwind of a romance (whether just in their minds or it’s actually true), production realized there wasn’t much they could do, so they leaned into it rather than hold her feet to the fire, and now we have what we have – a new “Bachelorette” in Tayshia. Pretty different than what the media is reporting if you ask me.

Here are some other smaller things I’m aware of about filming:

-We know back in March they released 32 guys for Clare’s season. Of those 32, only 17 were asked back and were part of the 42 guys released in July. So 15 were never asked back for whatever reason. We know those names already by process of elimination. I can tell you that Clare’s season started with 30 men. Only problem is, I don’t know which 12 men who were part of the 42 that were released in July never made it to night one. A few of the 12 I know never got cast this season were ones I’ve mentioned before: Alex Brusiloff, Tien Yang, Collins Youngblood, Josh Elledge, and Ellis Matthews for sure. That still leaves 7 guys from that list that never made it. I’ll find those out in due time.

-There were 6 men eliminated on the first night of Clare’s season. Pretty sure I know 5 of them. AJ Yalawan, Page Pressley, Chris Conran, Jeremy Higgins, and Jordan Manier. Still trying to figure out who the last guy was.

-The early season villain is Yosef Aborady. From what I’m hearing, the guy had some choice words for Clare. Not sure what about, but it’s not going to look good. And yes, he has a daughter, so lets keep that in mind when this plays out.

-There was a report that Clare never had a 1-on-1 with Dale before her “Bachelorette” time ended. Not what I’m told. They did have a 1-on-1 together.

One final note that I mentioned on Sunday, but thought I would reiterate here since so many people have either emailed or DM’ed me about it. This Twitter account from @bachelorsuitcaseguy:

1. Bachelorette Update - Of my time working with this show, this has by far been the craziest week I've seen. A whirlwind to say the least. I will do my best now to update everyone of Bachelor Nation, as I know the fragmented updates are driving you all crazy!

— BachelorSuitcaseGuy (@thatsuitcaseguy) August 5, 2020

That 9 tweet thread is all the rage now and so many people believed it. Clearly after reading what I wrote today, that Twitter account is garbage and just looking for attention. But even before today’s column, do you really think that someone from production would start a Twitter account, ADMIT they were part of production and live on set, then just tweet out spoilers as the show is going on? Really? And a 3 “Bachelorette” season at that, including one (Becca) who hasn’t even publicly stated she’s broken up with her fiancé, yet she’s going to be choosing between these men? They took the news that was being reported by outlets, twisted a few things, and created their own narrative. And if they were production and live on set, wouldn’t they literally be posting with new info every single day? It’s been almost a week since that post. Lets use our heads everyone.

So that’s where we are. Kinda crazy. And yeah, it’s really weird to think that Clare and Dale after two weeks threw caution to the wind and decided to go with this idea presented by production after talking it over I assume, but, that’s what I’m hearing happened, and not all this controversy and strife on set with Clare being essentially Bachelorette-zilla. I should know more in the coming weeks and as always, will keep you updated. Until then, follow me on Twitter and IG since that’s where I will post stuff first unless it’s a major storyline/narrative like today. See you Thursday when we have one of the more interesting podcast guests I’ve had in a while. I certainly believe some tea will be spilled.

Billysmom wrote:Thanks for bringing that over. The sad part for Clare is that now that other outlets have characterized her as difficult, et al., it will be tough for many to accept the likelihood she in fact was not. It will be interesting to see how the announcement to the men of Tayshia's arrival is handled.

Get ready for one heel of a season. #TheBachelorette is coming to Tuesdays on ABC. pic.twitter.com/jo6FdB0tMX

— The Bachelorette (@BacheloretteABC) August 11, 2020

Strange times... #TheBachelorette

— Mike Fleiss (@fleissmeister) August 11, 2020

Tayshia Adams (Colton Underwood’s season) and Natasha Parker (Peter Weber’s season) also check in with Chris to talk about the impact Rachel had on their experiences on the show and the importance of amplifying Black voices. They also look ahead to Matt James as the first Black Bachelor.

bluwavz wrote:Tayshia will appear on Nick's GOAT episode on 8/31:

Tayshia Adams (Colton Underwood’s season) and Natasha Parker (Peter Weber’s season) also check in with Chris to talk about the impact Rachel had on their experiences on the show and the importance of amplifying Black voices. They also look ahead to Matt James as the first Black Bachelor.

https://www.wdtvpress.com/abc/shows/the-bachelor-the-greatest-seasons-ever/episodes/nick-viall/