There’s a reason Ali Fedotowsky isn’t too surprised Clare Crawley found love so quickly on The Bachelorette. 360aproko learned on Monday that Crawley has been replaced as Bachelorette by Tayshia Adams roughly two weeks into filming.
A source told 360aproko that Crawley’s time on the show came to a close as she’s fallen for one of her contestants — and Fedotowsky believes Crawley and the mystery man likely formed a connection before meeting on “night one.” In fact, as the former Bachelorette told Lauren Zima on Monday, she’s sure Crawley was talking to several of her contestants before filming started last month in Palm Springs, California.
“We have to assume she was talking to all of them, if not the majority of the ones she was interested in, based off of pictures or initial attraction,” Fedotowsky said. “That’s got to be it, there’s no question.”
The coronavirus pandemic put Crawley in a position no Bachelor franchise lead has ever been in before. Her cast was announced in March, but days later, production was halted due to the outbreak. So instead of meeting at the Bachelor mansion, Crawley and her men got their phones back and were released from production. Over the next few months, Crawley had time to do some digging into her cast — and actually admitted she looked them up during a recent appearance on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast.
“No question… She was [talking to them],” guessed Fedotowsky, who revealed that she and the other Bachelorettes had added Crawley to their group text and were in communication with her prior to filming.
Though communicating with contestants prior to filming is typically a major faux pas in the franchise, in some occasions, the show has leaned into preshow connections. Peter Weber serendipitously met his current girlfriend, Kelley Flanagan, at a hotel a month before she appeared as his contestant on the show. Nick Viall’s season included contestant Liz Sandoz, whom he had a romantic encounter with a year before his season. Viall joined Kaitlyn Bristowe’s season of The Bachelorette after they spent weeks flirting online, and a guy Rachel Lindsay knew from childhood, Fred Johnson, was a contestant on her season.
Whether or not Crawley formed a connection with one of her contestants before filming, Fedotowsky is sure the hairstylist “saved herself a lot of stress and tears” by deciding to end her journey after finding love. “I think it’s 100% the right decision, and I think it’s going to be so exciting to watch,” she said of the upcoming season.
Viewers will still see Crawley’s love story play out on The Bachelorette, before Adams’ journey is featured. The show returns this fall on ABC.
