Clare Crawley’s season of The Bachelorette was unprecedented from the start.
During a sneak peek for the Tuesday, October 13, premiere of the ABC series, Clare, 39, reveals contestant Blake Moynes reached out to her while production was suspended amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Clare posted on Instagram on a Story that she was really struggling right now because of what her mom was going through in the hospital. So, I want to check in if she’s OK,” Blake explains in the clip, referring to Clare’s mother who has Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Clare, who previously admitted to Googling her contestants during the four-month shutdown, confronts him about his decision to reach out.
“So, over quarantine, it was really hard for me. And I didn’t want to bring this up, but there are these weird rules that we have to follow for the show of not contacting somebody, and you were the only guy who reached out to me the entire time,” the hairdresser says. “So, you broke the rule that you’re not supposed to contact somebody.”
Host Chris Harrison, for his part, teased to Entertainment Tonight that the idea of Clare communicating with her suitors prior to production would play out on the show.
“Did Clare have contact? You will definitely find out once the show starts. We definitely have those conversations, for sure,” the host said. ”She admitted to me that she started looking through and getting an idea of what these guys stood for who they were — not a terrible idea, and maybe that’s something we incorporate into the future of this show.’”
While fans will see Clare’s journey begin on Tuesday’s premiere, Us Weekly confirmed in August that she stopped looking for love within the first two weeks of production because she was already smitten with one of the men.
“Everybody keeps asking me, ‘Are you happy? Are you happy?’ and I keep telling everybody, like, I was happy going into this,” she teased to Good Morning America ahead of the premiere. “So, whatever came about it, I’m happy now. Things are well on my end.”
ABC subsequently called in Tayshia Adams to pick up where she left off.
“The path we’re on right now doesn’t end well. For you, for the guys, for anybody,” Harrison tells Clare in the supertease for the season. “Congratulations you’ve just blown up The Bachelorette.”
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