ABC/Craig Sjodin Clare Crawley was the original Bachelorette for season 16.
The pared-down Men Tell All special had quite a few notable faces missing, but maybe none quite as glaring as the season’s original Bachelorette, Clare Crawley.
Crawley’s absence may not have been her choice. The Sacramento-based hairstylist tweeted, “I wish they would have let me be in attendance to let these men know in person how much their words + support have meant to me. Thank you gentlemen. From the bottom of my heart.”
I wish they would have let me be in attendance to let these men know in person how much their words + support have meant to me. Thank you gentlemen. From the bottom of my heart. ❤️
The insinuation she was shut out is just the latest in an increasingly contentious relationship with ABC, following the implications she was forced out of the dating franchise. While Crawley, who left the season early engaged to Dale Moss, did not attend, her Bachelorette replacement Tayshia Adams did.
In her tweet, Crawley thanked her former contestants who in her absence came to her defense after the season’s early villain, Yosef Aborady, showed no remorse for the confrontation that led to his leaving the show. Following a controversial group date of strip dodgeball on which he did not participate, Aboardy got in an argument with Crawley calling her the oldest Bachelorette and telling her he wouldn’t want his daughter having a mother like her.
Kenny Braasch, who was on the date, told Aborady, “At the end of the day Yosef, like we could have said no [to stripping] but I just don’t get [it] because you weren’t there.”
After Aborady claimed Crawley escalated the conflict, Jason Foster chimed in saying, “Because you controlled the whole conversation and when she tried to express and say, Yosef I completely understand where you’re coming from… then you just took it to a whole new level of f*****g disrespect.”
Amid pandemic-related safety protocol, the special was filmed at the Nemacolin Woodland Resort where production on The Bachelor took place. Unlike past seasons, this year there were fewer participating contestants and no audience.
Crawley Liked and Retweeted Messages Against Aborady
Bachelor Nation stars and fans alike called out Aborady, with Chris Harrison even telling him directly it was a “bad look.” Crawley retweeted former Bachelor Ben Higgins, who wrote, “If everyone around feels you are not behaving correctly or that you are causing damage with your actions you should humble yourself to listen. Your opinion alone is not always truth, beneficial, right, and loving. Accountability is actually an incredible thing.”
If everyone around feels you are not behaving correctly or that you are causing damage with your actions you should humble yourself to listen. Your opinion alone is not always truth, beneficial, right, and loving. Accountability is actually an incredible thing #BacheloretteABC
Higgins was certainly not alone. Among the tweets she liked, “As a connoisseur of trash tv, I know I’m supposed to live for the drama, but MUST WE GIVE YOSEF A SECOND 15 MINUTES? I’ve straight up forgotten this blip on my radar, and I assume [Clare Crawley] has too.”
Others took the Men Tell All as an opportunity to applaud Crawley for standing up for herself. One Twitter user wrote, “[Clare Crawley] btw, YOU rock! Thank you for standing up for yourself, thank you for holding out, thank you for not taking words like that from anyone! I am so happy to see you be engaged after following your journey from the first time you were on the show! Well deserved!”
@Clare_Crawley btw, YOU rock! Thank you for standing up for yourself, thank you for holding out, thank you for not taking words like that from anyone! I am so happy to see you be engaged after following your journey from the first time you were on the show! Well deserved!
Crawley Has Previously Implied She Was Forced out of the Show
Rumors started swirling over the summer when reports leaked that Crawley left the show early and Adams was brought in her stead. While it remains in question whether she was pushed out or quit, based on her Twitter likes, it seems Crawley believes she was kicked off the show.
She liked a series of tweets, including, “I think they were trying to force her out on some real. It was reported that she quit 12 days after filming and she locked herself in her room and wouldn’t come out, which was hard to believe considering how bad she wanted it.” She later pointed out that Adams was brought in to quarantine before Crawley had decided to quit.
@girlfighter2013 @DalidaDavid85 @BacheloretteABC @Clare_Crawley I think they were trying to force her out on some real. It was reported that she quit 12 days after filming and she locked herself in her room and wouldn’t come out, which was hard to believe considering how bad she wanted it.
Reality Steve backs up these claims, writing on his website, “They knew Clare would be removed at some point during this season and replaced as the ‘Bachelorette’ by Tayshia. Did Clare know? No. Did the guys know? No. But production sure as hell did.”
Despite these claims, franchise host Harrison said Crawley was in control. “I would just say she has complete control,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “This season of The Bachelorette was completely about Clare. It’s all about Clare and she will decide where we go from here. It’s totally, completely up to her.”
On television, Harrison was seen telling Crawley “The path we’re on right now doesn’t end well for anybody,” with Crawley deciding to move forward with only Moss.
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