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JoJo Fletcher Thinks Clare Crawley Should Have Cut Her ‘Bachelorette’ Contestants Some Slack During 1st Group Date (Exclusive)

She’s been there! JoJo Fletcher weighed in on Clare Crawley’s reaction to her suitors’ lack of initiative on The Bachelorette, revealing that she would have handled the situation differently.

Related: Everything We Know About ‘Bachelorette’ Season 16

“That felt a little awkward to me only because I know going through it as the cast is, being like one of the first sort of scenarios in this group setting, they don’t know what to do,” the season 12 Bachelorette, 29, exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, October 22, while discussing her partnership with eBay. “They don’t want to come off as like, you know, they didn’t know what to do. And so that’s what I was thinking in my mind.”

Crawley, 39, took offense during her first group date, which aired on Tuesday, October 20, when no one offered to steal her away for a one-on-one conversation after her toast. She then confronted the men, telling them that it made her feel like none of them wanted to spend time with her. They subsequently apologized and carried on with the date.

JoJo Fletcher Clare Shouldve Cut Her Men Some Slack 1st Group Date
JoJo Fletcher and Clare Crawley. MediaPunch/Shutterstock (2)

“On Clare’s side, she’s done this before,” Fletcher explained. “She’s a veteran. She came into this being like, ‘I know exactly what I want.’ And so, you know, she came in, she told them what she thought and they’re like, ‘Ah, I didn’t even know.’ So I think now that that’s been said and the standard’s been set, I don’t think they’ll wait around anymore, but I would have given them more grace, just because I don’t think the guys knew. I don’t think it was intentional.”

Related: Former ‘Bachelor’ and ‘Bachelorette’ Leads: Where Are They Now?

Us broke the news in August that the Cash Pad star stepped in for host Chris Harrison during filming for season 16 after the 49-year-old TV personality was forced to quarantine. She was, of course, thrilled to take on a new role within the franchise.

Related: Everything Bachelorette Clare Crawley Has Said About Dale Moss

“Normally when I get these calls, it said to come in as a guest and do something fun, like on a date. And so, it was never to the level of like, ‘You need to help Chris out specifically. He has to leave. You have to sort of take over this role,’” she told Us. “So I was obviously super excited that they would even think of me to do that or trust me to do that. I’m definitely nervous. I mean, Chris makes it look incredibly easy. Because he’s really good at his job, you know, and so I feel like I did my best. I try to stay within the lines of doing Chris Harrison’s job in his role, but I’m never gonna be Chris Harrison. So hope everyone has that in mind when they’re watching.”

While fans await her turn in the host’s shoes, Fletcher is keeping busy by partnering with eBay to promote their exclusive new certified refurbished category. “I really do think with what we’ve gone through this year and money is tight, especially around the holidays, this is a really great option for people to look into. And I think people will love it. I personally love it,” she said. “So I’m really excited about the program. There’s all these different layers of trust that I feel like eBay gives you with this program. And I think it’s something that people will love and will really, really just use and appreciate as a gift for gifting season.”

With reporting by Sarah Hearon 

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