Bachelorette: Everything We Know About Clare Crawley for Season 16
Fans of the Bachelor franchise are waiting anxiously for Clare Crawley’s season of The Bachelorette. Filming was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the start date is fast approaching.
Filming for The Bachelorette typically starts in March and lasts until May. The season traditionally premieres in late May, meaning the start is currently one month overdue. Clare Crawley was announced as The Bachelorette on Good Morning America in early March. Bachelor nation was quite familiar with Crawley before she was announced. But the announcement still came as quite the surprise to most viewers.
She first appeared as runner-up on Juan Pablo Galavis season of The Bachelor. When Juan Pablo sent her home in a notoriously callous fashion, Clare delivered an impassioned, angered, and emotional goodbye. She went as far as telling Juan Pablo she would never want a man like him to raise her kids. Clare went on to appear on seasons one and two of Bachelor in Paradise and The Bachelor Winter Games. After appearing on Winter Games, she found love with Canadian co-star Benoit Beauséjour-Savard. Benoit proposed to Clare on the reunion special but the couple split two months later.
Fans can expect a much more mature Clare compared to when she first appeared in the Bachelor. In an interview on the Bachelor Happy Hour Podcast, Clare elaborated on how much she’s grown. Soon before she started Juan Pablo’s season of The Bachelor, Clare left a toxic, abusive relationship. This left her feeling lost and without internal confidence or love for herself. During the season, Clare still had work to do on herself to heal. “(I could) just hear it in my voice just trying to be strong trying to be empowered but then having enough in me to be like ‘no that’s not okay you don’t treat somebody like that you don’t disrespect somebody like that,’” Clare said in the interview.
Her lack of confidence contributed to a pattern of unhealthy, unfulfilling relationships before and after she first appeared on The Bachelor. Her toleration of Juan Pablo's disrespectful behavior is a prime example. “I grew up having no self-confidence because of a lot of things that happened in my life and not feeling worthy about a lot of stuff,” Clare explained. She expressed how she needed to learn how to love herself before she learned how to love others romantically and conduct healthy relationships. “I picked a lot of wrong guys for me and that was because I wasn't in the space to fully understand self-love,” Clare said.
After leaving Juan Pablo’s season she was further weakened. “Coming off of Juan-Pablo’s season I was weak. I didn’t know who I was and I wasn't self-aware,” she explained. Clare went through a lot of growth in the coming years to become the woman she is today. “Coming from there and doing all the work in my 30s I'm an empowered woman now, I’m a strong woman,” she said.
This work has led her to realize her inner confidence and strength. While she is a strong, empowered woman, everyone has their moments of weakness. Going forward, she wants a partner who can accept and respect her strong personality while understanding and being sensitive to moments where she’s weak. Suffice it to say Clare will be looking for a partner who can understand the nuance and maturity required for a life-long romantic partnership.
One of Clare’s focuses going forward will be setting a good example and being a good example to the women who are watching, young, old, and in between. There’s a lot of stress that comes with being The Bachelorette and Clare hopes to show other women how they can manage the stress in their own lives through her behavior in the coming season. Over the last couple months Clare has had more time to grow and think of the example she hopes to set for others: “(The pandemic) has given me the time to sit and go ‘what is my message, what do I want to share with woman my age, woman our age, anybody?’... I want to be that woman for other people to see, ‘yeah we all go through some pretty awful stuff sometimes.’”
The original premiere date of The Bachelorette season 16 was set for May 18. This date was pushed back due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A new premiere date has not yet been confirmed for season 16, but we can give the premiere date our best guess considering the start and end times of past Bachelor and Bachelorette seasons.
Clare revealed she will soon be traveling to location to start filming season 16. The season traditionally begins at the Bachelor mansion in Agoura Hills, so Clare will likely be staying in a resort nearby. Unlike previous seasons, the men will not be staying in the Bachelor Mansion. Instead, they’ll be staying in a nearby resort chosen by producers. This is likely to accommodate for each contestant having their own room. Giving each man his own space, or at least limiting the number of men who share rooms, will lessen the likelihood someone on the cast or crew will catch COVID-19. All cast and crew members will be tested for the virus before they arrive.
With this timing, the show will likely start filming the week of July 5, right after Independence Day. Producers originally presented a five-week production plan to Warner Bros. with no international travel. This timeline may change if Los Angeles sees a high spike in COVID-19 cases. If production starts in early July and producers abide by this timeline, production should end by early August. Producers likely won’t differ from this timeline, since filming for the next season of The Bachelor will likely begin in September. With the lack of international travel, viewers will likely see a lot more of southern California than they are accustomed to seeing in a traditional Bachelor or Bachelorette season.
Fans can expect a late August or early September premiere for season 16 of The Bachelorette. Instead of the traditional Monday night show run, season 16 will be airing on Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. Eastern. Popular ABC show Dancing With the Stars already occupies the fall Monday night time slot.
Fans got a taste of who would appear on Clare’s season of the Bachelorette when ABC revealed the cast list in March. After the show was rescheduled due to the pandemic Chris Harrison announced they’d be undergoing recasting. The updated cast list for season 16 has not been released.
One obvious difference in the first and second selected casts will be Matt James. As the next Bachelor, Matt will not be vying for Clare’s heart. Matt may not have had much of a chance with Clare anyways. Clare seemed to subtweet Matt ahead of the postponed filming start date when she chided some contestants for trying to profit off of the announcement by setting up Cameo accounts.
A recasting allows for contestants to be more tailored towards Clare’s attraction and desires. Many contestants had already applied to the season 16 cast before Clare was announced as The Bachelorette as she was announced a mere 11 days before the season was to begin filming. Many applicants probably assumed one of the women from season 23 helmed by Colton Underwood would be chosen as The Bachelorette. Due to this expectation, the vast majority of the cast (and most likely applicant pool) were younger men.
Emotional maturity will be a must for Clare going forward. She has spent years doing the self-work necessary to have a healthy relationship so it’s only expected that her final partner has done the same. It’ll be important for men to see the nuance in her strong and sensitive sides. “I want somebody to love me for all the hard stuff I’ve been through and it’s been something I’ve hidden for so many years,” she explained.
Someone who chooses to initiate and prioritizes a strong connection first and foremost may not be successful. Clare will interpret this as not having a lot to say, which is the exact opposite of what she wants in a long-term partner. Although, the first kiss may not be the kiss of death for the man who initiates it. Rachel Lindsay explained on the podcast how she arrived to her season with the same mindset, but the first man to initiate a kiss was the one she ended up choosing.
While we don’t have a list of Clare’s past boyfriends to reference, she revealed in the interview how they range all shades and sizes. Her focus will not be on their looks on appearance but rather the emotional connection she’s able to form: “I put so much weight on how they make me feel and that’s what’s important to me.” How the men choose to represent themselves ahead of the first rose ceremony will be highly important. Although Clare is a self-proclaimed “goober” she doesn’t necessarily want her future partner to have a goober-like grand entrance.
As far as appearances go, the contestant’s height and smile are most important to her night one. This likely will not be a huge factor considering her aforementioned and rather a means to make first judgments. Another first impression factor will be how the men smell. During the interview, Clare repeatedly mentioned pheromones, chemicals released by glands in various parts of the body which can induce sexual arousal. With this added factor in consideration, men who lather themselves in too much cologne beforehand might be doing more harm to themselves than good.
Clare’s top two love languages are acts of service and physical touch. Throughout the season, the man who manages to find a way to make her life easier will be a likely contender. The men who make her life more difficult will likely be cut out early on in the season. Furthermore, Clare believes “hurt people, hurt people.” So someone who chooses to initiate lots of conflicts will most likely be written off as immature and too much to handle in Clare’s book.
Another important factor to watch for is who’s able to score the most physical touch in group dates and who initiates the most physical touch on one on one dates. Public displays of affection like hand-holding and hugs will likely be a positive sign.
Compatible lifestyles will be a huge selling point for Clare going forward. Her life is centered around wellness and caring for her two dogs. She lives a very active life filled with nature hikes near her home in Sacramento, California. When she’s not exploring her surroundings she works as a hairdresser. Her future match will have to be equally active and enthused by the outdoors. It goes without saying, they MUST be a dog lover, just like Clare.
For the astrology aficionados out there, Clare’s Zodiac sign is Pisces. This shows in Clare’s compassionate, sensitive, and understanding nature. It also shows in how Clare keeps her true emotions under wraps and focuses on her personal, inner journey. Clare’s sign is one reason as to why she’s so drawn to the environment. Due to their strong compatibility, Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio and Capricorn men are ones to watch for. On the other hand, Gemini and Sagittarius men are likely to drive Clare away.
Clare’s age will also likely play a large role in how she chooses her future mate. To date, Clare is the oldest Bachelorette at 39 years old and only the third Bachelorette in her thirties. In the interview, she expressed her hesitation with choosing a younger man as they may not be emotionally mature enough for a long term relationship. While a young age does not necessarily discount a young man from being emotionally mature, it may make Clare more hesitant to seriously pursue a romantic connection. This is all dependent on the age of men who are cast in the season. Men in their 30s (and maybe even 40s, if they’re present) have a higher chance of stealing Clare’s heart. Although in the past, Clare has dated younger men so this likely is only a small factor.
Source: Gold Derby, Bachelor Happy Hour Podcast