It turns out Clare Crawley and Dale Moss’ whirlwind romance might not be so crazy after all. According to Rachel Lindsay, the season 16 couple likely spent more time together than most successful couples from The Bachelor or Bachelorette.
“If you look at [Bachelor in] Paradise, people fall in love with the same amount of time. And I’ll be honest, Clare spent more time with Dale than I probably spent with [my husband] Bryan [Abasolo] before he got down on one knee,” the season 13 Bachelorette exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her partnership with the Sezwe app. “And even in talking to Clare and Dale off-camera, they said that their time with each other was insane, like that group date we saw where he was gone so long with Clare? That’s not the only time that had happened. So they got to spend a lot of time together. I think producers recognize that Clare was really into Dale and wanted to give her a fair chance to see if this is something that could work.”
Rachel confirmed to Us that she was at the airport on her way to the Palm Springs set when she learned Clare, 39, and Dale, 32, were getting engaged within the first two weeks of filming.
“Was I concerned when I found out? No, because in being friends with Clare [I know that] Clare’s very matter-of-fact, she knows what she wants. She doesn’t need to waste her time. I think that’s the beauty of being 39 is having real experiences when it comes to relationships and love and Clare has that,” the “Higher Learning” podcast host said. “So, when she knew what she wanted, why is she gonna play around with anything else? So, I was confident. I was like, ‘OK, good for Clare! Now, who are we bringing in?’”
ABC subsequently called in Tayshia Adams to take over where Clare left off. In addition to the 16 contestants the hairstylist left behind, the 30-year-old former phlebotomist met four new suitors on the November 10 episode. While the two season 16 leads didn’t have the opportunity to talk during production, Rachel told Us that it’s all love between Clare and Tayshia in the Bachelorette group text.
“The chat was just popping with ‘Congrats, and we’re here if you need us.’ It’s just a great place to seek advice,” she told Us, noting that the women rally around Kaitlyn Bristowe every Monday during Dancing With the Stars, too. “It’s just such a good community. I’m so glad that we did it. I don’t even remember who started it. But I’m so glad it’s there.”
Earlier this month, season 4 Bachelorette DeAnna Pappas told Us that the group chat has been rallying about Clare as she and Dale receive backlash from fans.
“Clare went off, she fell in love. That’s the purpose of the show,” Rachel added of the hate. “It drives me crazy that people are mad at her because she didn’t follow a structure. So basically, you wanted her to fake it for a few more weeks when the whole purpose of the show is finding and love? And, Lord knows, we haven’t seen love stories these past few seasons. So, why are we now jumping on Clare for finding hers just because she didn’t follow the format?”
Rachel, for her part, is also no stranger to haters on social media but hopes Sezwe, a short-form video app, will help refocus her efforts to have an open dialogue online.
“A lot of times when I say something, or have an opinion, I get a lot of people who are hiding behind their usernames, or there’s a lot of misinformation that’s being spewed out there, a lot of bullying,” Rachel told Us. “And this app eliminates all of that. And it makes things more personal. And you’re able to keep the conversation going in a more intimate way. When you record these 30-second videos on whatever topic it is you want to talk about, people can respond to you with a video. It’s very intimate, you can see who it is that you’re talking to. And it feels more like a conversation than it does like a social media presence.”
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