Welp. Chris Harrison finally got it right. This is the most dramatic season of The Bachelorette ever.
Over the course of the last five years, we’ve seen a lot of things go down that have been dramatic. But we’ve never seen a lead walk-off the show.
Let’s back up.
As Bachelor Nation – we all wanted our lead to be older, to know what she wanted, and to be more than an Instagram model. So when they announced Clare, it seemed like an interesting pick.
She is older (at 39, the oldest Bachelorette ever), she is pretty passionate (so she should know what she wants), and she has less instagram followers than any of the past Bachelorettes (most have over a mil, Clare is only in the 800k range).
But things were not meant to be from the outset.
First – the original announced cast of men for her (pre-pandemic) were not age appropriate.
At 39 – dating younger is not an issue, but dating men who are 15 years her junior (so 24 year olds), was not a realistic pick. One or two of these options maybe – but the entire cast was younger than 39. Traditionally, women tend to date older – so it’s a bit ridiculous that no one was in their 40s of this original group. So obviously Bachelor Nation flipped out.
But then the pandemic hit.
Apparently they had only filmed the limos or had prepped for the limo night episode before production got shut down. It’s not important. What’s important is that they sent everyone home – then they recasted the show.
Once they figured out a way to film – using the production bubble method like the NBA/NHL did – the men they brought into their bubble were on average older than the orginal cast.
Now instead of having a group of men in their 20s, it was a group of men in their 30s – with a few in their 40s. Much better.
But then Clare doesn’t really have time for any of these men, because she only has time for Dale. Normally, the lead doesn’t have months to creep their announced cast on Instagram – but this year she had nothing but time during lockdown and she fell hard for Dale. Which fair enough Clare. His eyes sparkle.
I guess, as viewers of the show – we want our leads to give all the options a fair chance and this is where the season goes off the rails.
From night one, Clare only seemed authentically interested in Dale. Anytime she talked to anyone else it felt like she was going through the motions. There was a small moment with Canadian Blake – but really, it was the Clare-Dale show.
There have only been four episodes this season – with only two episodes having group or one-on-one dates. Which is why it’s so crazy that Clare blew up the whole show after only twelve days of filming, and never going on a one-on-one date with Dale.
Last night she started out by talking about how she “respects the process”. Girl, you love Dale and you couldn’t handle the process. AND THAT’S FINE.
Like really – if you only want to date one person at a time or be ‘exclusive’ with one person – that’s pretty normal. But that is not this show. That is Bachelor in Paradise.
In Paradise – we want you to find one person and stick with them. But as the lead of the main franchise – we need you to date all the men and learn why each of them are special, and really consider ALL your options.
This episode was particularly wild because again while normally there is a front runner, the show encourages the lead to take that time to foster relationships. Now with the last Bachelor season, I think the show encouraged Peter to consider all his options too much to the point where the man tried to pick all of them.
I would say overall this course correction is not what we wanted. We wanted someone to make a choice – but not this fast; and we wanted someone older – but not just in age (we wanted maturity). We wanted drama – but maybe not this much drama.
I think the other problem here is that no one really likes Clare. We didn’t like Hannah Brown, but we fell in love with her very quickly on her season. Clare is getting more annoying by the episode (which is saying something considering this was her bar…)
We think she’s lying about getting in touch with Dale before the show. We are turned off by her dramatic/intense way of talking about MEN LIKE THAT. We are constantly rolling our eyes at her proclamations that she’s in love with someone that she has legitimately never been on a one-on-one date with. I also have a bone to pick with her about all her talk about “her journey and waiting for this moment” – because girl, we know your journey, and we saw you got engaged on national TV before to Quebec Benoit BeausĂ©jour-Savard. Like this is try number five and I’m tired of you.
Plus – I personally think her concept of “falling in love” is bullshit. She’s confusing loving him with loving the idea of him. Example here – I also spend a lot of time looking at photos of Harry Styles on Instagram. I often say that I love him. But I don’t actually love him, I don’t know him.
I also think Dale’s doing the same. This show puts the leads on a pedestal and I think Dale (being a model) wants to be part of a ‘famous’ couple. I think he is going along with this for enough time to get the spon-con and then he’ll be out. I’m genuinely shocked that he was also game to leave the show this early and with her.
Watching this episode – it seems like Chris Harrison agrees and the production is calling their bluff. When she said, I love him and I want to leave with him – Chris was like ‘okay cool but you have to get engaged right now.’ I think Chris thought he’d say no and then the show would get back on track. But nope – Dale was in. They got Neil Lane on facetime, got a ring, and had Chris and Bri from Listen to Your Heart sing to them. It was forced-artificial romance and I hated it. Clare and Dale are now “living happily ever after” as an engaged couple…
Think about it – they spent more time in quarantine than they have spent together and they got ENGAGED… I have so many questions. The after show clip of them together was crazy. They’re cooking in their kitchen – like they’ve been together for ever – and she’s like “iIt’s been four days!… I’m a woman who found the MAN of my dreams” ARE YOU KIDDING ME CLARE?! You are delusional – you are living in a dream. Insert eye-roll here. If she was my friend, I’d be very concerned.
But whatever – the show has pivoted to a new Bachelorette and I am here for it.
After the re-cast the men on this season were actually a great group and I want to know them. So I’m very grateful, we’re getting to meet them in a new context and I wish all of them thousands of Instagram followers for their patience leading up to this point.
Their journey isn’t over and it is truly just starting because Tayshia is a girl who deserves to be put on that pedestal and have however many guys falling for her. I am PUMPED. I had her on my Bachelor pool years ago (aka Jan 2019 – that feels like years ago) because I have faith in her. Let’s put it this way – I loved her longer than Clare has loved Dale.
I’m optimistic about the back half of this season.
Plus – I want her to get with Harvard Bennett:
Let me know what you think of this train wreck season 🙂
Hi, I'm Paula Sanderson 
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