Clay Harbor is ready to do this damn thing! The New Orleans Saints tight end, 30, will be a contestant on the upcoming season of The Bachelorette, Us Weekly can confirm. The athlete, 30, is currently on the team’s injured reserve list. “Casting didn’t seek him out — he applied for the show,” a source told Us.
Clay will be competing on season 14, vying for the heart of Becca Kufrin. The Minnesota native was announced as the new Bachelorette during The Bachelor: After the Finale Rose special on Tuesday, March 6, after facing her ex-fiancé Arie Luyendyk Jr. Arie proposed to her on the finale of The Bachelor, only to end the relationship a few weeks later and reunite with his runner-up, Lauren Burnham. He proposed to Lauren just moments before Chris Harrison announced that Becca would be the next Bachelorette.
Once the announcement was made, the host brought out Becca’s first five men: Lincoln, Chase, Ryan, Darius and Blake … the latter of whom brought a horse along with him.
Harrison explained the decision to make Becca the next Bachelorette during an interview with E! News. “Once this evolved and once we saw the outpouring of love and support for Becca —and on top of that, we saw how she handled that unedited, controversial scene,” he said. “I mean, she was so graceful, so poised, so strong and put together, it made our decision so easy,” he said. “That’s why we don’t ever really rush to judgment.”
Arie also tried to take credit for the decision, explaining in an interview on Good Morning America that he wanted to show his breakup with Becca on TV so that people would be able to see who she really was.
“Honestly, I wanted her that opportunity to be the potential bachelorette,” Arie told Michael Strahan on Wednesday, March 7. “I hope I gave her that closure. I’m very happy for her. I’m happy that she’s going to be able to find her true love through the show.”
