Bachelorette 16 - Clare Crawley & Tayshia Adams - Dec 22 - FRC - *Sleuthing Spoilers*

I truly contemplated sending the following to my Cosmo editor…

“I love them so much and that’s all I have to say!”

But seriously, I feel like there’s nothing to question or analyze and only intense love to celebrate between our leading goddess, Tayshia, and her fiancé Zac! I mean, when was the last time this show ended and you had no reservations or worries about the couple and just felt bliss?! It’s been a LONG time!!

I think I’m just going to use a lot of exclamation points for a sec and get this out of my system. The way Zac looks at Tayshia! Zac’s confidence and swag! Tayshia feeling beyond love! Wild love! Like this is the first time she’s experience real love! The moment they first said "I love you!" Zac’s gotten so much hotter as we’ve gotten to know him! I got mad butterflies watching them dance! The way Tayshia says his full name! Zac choking up and whispering when talking about Tayshia with his family! You. Guys!!!

I truly believe this was all meant to be. Clare was meant to be The Bachelorette to meet and fall in love with Dale that fast to make room for Tayshia to come in and meet her love, Zac. Two women in this franchise had their husbands in this bunch and fate or God needed to work it out like this! I know I’m an idealist and a hopeless romantic, but lean into it with me!

This love story is so inspiring. It’s the kind that makes me love my husband more. I felt this way after seeing A Star is Born. (Guiliana Rancic actually told Gaga the same thing on the red carpet at the Oscars, so it’s a legit feeling, but I digress…) I left that theatre and this Bachelorette finale being more mindful of how each day Jared and I have together is a gift. That love is an experience and a feeling to be treasured daily. Not everyone is lucky enough to find it. I feel like booking a romantic trip to relive that honeymoon phase Tayshia and Zac are experiencing. Think about how much hope this story can give people out there searching for love?! One day your single and a few weeks later you’re engaged to a man beyond your wildest dreams? That sounds sarcastic, but it wasn’t my intention! Love can be right around the corner! Zac and Tayshia’s journeys (geez, I’ve been in this too long) prove to people who have gone through divorce and are worried about getting married again that it just takes finding the right person to change your mindset. They are the first engaged Bachelor couple to have both previously been married.

I love their love. The speed at which my heart fluttered watching them was incomparable to watching Tayshia with the others. Ivan was super sweet. He got totally screwed over with the ice bath date and the anti-fantasy Winnebago. I think it’s important for Tayshia’s future husband to have an understanding and acceptance of her religious beliefs. Their differences here made for nice way for her to explain their long term incompatibility. I think Ivan would have still been sent home when he was, regardless of whether Ben or Brendan was his competition. He and Tayshia had a great rapport and friendship, but the passion wasn’t there.

I also think so highly of Brendan. What a cutie patootie. It was honorable of him to leave the show when he knew he personally wasn’t in the right place for engagement. This would have left us wondering, so why’d you sign up for a show that traditionally leads to a proposal? But he said that the process made him discover this about himself. And I’ll tell ya one thing, the producers knew very well that the wedding ring date with Neil Lane would make Brendon squirmy and that’s exactly why he got put on it. His transparency during that date made him even more endearing. I didn’t understand the gut punch Tayshia took when he told her he was leaving. It was so obvious she was choosing Zac after she giddily told him how much she loved him the night earlier! There was a soundbite of her saying, “I thought Brendan was the one” or something when he left. That must have been out of context. Maybe the full quote was “At the beginning, I thought Brendan was the one” and it was spliced.

I made it clear in my article last week why I don’t think Ben and Tayshia were the right fit. However, I understand her decision to bring him back. Brendon left and she knew it wasn’t Ivan, so as might as well fill that remaining spot with Ben. He came back and vocalized his feelings, which was why she eliminated last week. I truly believe Ben would have gotten Ivan’s spot in the Top Three last week if he had said “I love you” earlier. I also think that the way that Tayshia’s heart pulled for Ben throughout the season made him worthy of the runner up spot, but his lack of readiness and his slowness to articulate his feelings kept him back. Bottom line, I don’t think his return was unfair to anyone. Tayshia thought, "I’d like to double check to make sure I’ve got all these feelings figured out before I make the biggest decision of my life." And that, my friends, is very fair!

Tayshia and Zac’s love was not found through process of elimination, though. Their love would have found its way through a bunch of men who looked like 90s Leo. I can’t wait to continue to witness the force of love that exists between these two!

pavalygurl wrote:I understand Sharleen and everyone's disappointment that no ATFR was filmed. Or any follow up for that matter.

I want to say that I live in LA and things are serious here.  So many folks are following the guidelines and yes everyone is having quarantine fatigue.  But, all we have done to this point can be wiped out by the exponential explosion of cases which is happening.  Yes, I miss traveling back east to see family and friends, we all do.  But I don't think a tv shoot, even one we love as much as The Bachelor franchise is worth even one more person needlessly contracting this virus.

chasus71 wrote:

I definately understand not having an AFTR if not for the main reason of protecting people keeping them safe in a pandemic. The only thing I wished they would have done instead of showing the promo for Matt's season they could have least had a skype video or even Tayaisha and Zac own personal video providing an update like in the same sense Dale and Claire did. I liked the outtake at the end with Chris meeting Tayisha's family but would it have hurt to throw in a snippet showing that they are together. JMO

bluwavz wrote:@emiusacska



https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/tv/a35048968/bachelorette-tayshia-adams-season-16-episode-12-13-finale-recap-analysis/

chasus71 wrote:


I absolutely agree. Skype would have been great. I'm not sure it's possible but could they have somehow televised a zoom call? Something. Anything.

I just wanted to see Zac and Tayshia as they are today, their smiles and happiness.

GuardianAngel wrote:@pavalygurl IA

What I did agree with Sharleen is there was no update at all on the happy couple, only to be interrupted by the ad for the next season. I just witnessed the best proposal and love story IMHO that they didn't try to hide, of this franchise which was quickly deflated by the ad. We could have done without the MTA and use that time slot at the end for an update on the couple, bloopers or a review of the season. MTA is my least favourite useless part of the franchise. They did it all by video chat while airing the best season's, they could have figured something out.

I also agreed that they left us in the dark about the Religion discussion which ended up being Tayshia's reason for eliminating Ivan. She could have mentioned in her PI but chose not to include any concerns from an important topic. I don't like it when a lead eliminates someone only to have them come back. It's useless and totally unnecessary for my viewing pleasure, and it's only for the purpose of their so called drama and ratings. I did not like that she took him back and I didn't like it when she kissed him. She redeemed herself when she let him go before hand IMHO. I think that was all planned having Ben come back then having to eliminate Ivan but that's besides the point.

I agree that they didn't give any indication about Tayshia's concerns about "running away" or not being supported by her partner. Watching the conversation with Zac about that, raised my eyebrows, how stressed she was during their last date then later at the FRC how she was torn. These concerns were all news to me. Probably valid concerns, but it would have been more understandable if I knew before hand.

I'm understanding a little more about her IG post which sounded gloomy. I wondering if there were certain things she had to agree to but not necessarily wanted to do.

The FRC location was ok, was there not a more beautiful spot? maybe around a pool, with pots of flowers and not standing in the blazing sun?

These are JMO for the sake of discussion because for me the ending was so memorable. Zac's speech went through my soul and even Tayshia's speech was to the point and direct. You can see and feel the love between them and I couldn't have asked for a better ending.

I'm looking forward to following them post filming!