Tayshia Adams Reveals Reason She Was Hesitant to Take Over as Bachelorette

ABC Tayshia Adams begins her search for love in episode five of The Bachelorette.

Being the lead of The Bachelorette means having a swarm of men battling for your affection, but Tayshia Adams says she wasn’t that enthusiastic about the idea of taking over for Clare Crawley.

In an interview on Good Morning America, Adams said she was afraid that the 16 remaining men who spent the first couple weeks of filming dating Crawley would struggle with residual feelings for the first lead of the season.

“Being a second choice is obviously not a good feeling,” Adams said. “It was one of my hesitations.”

She said yes to the opportunity, despite her reservations. But it wasn’t until the first night that she says her mind was finally put at ease.

“After having conversations with all of the men, they honestly welcomed me with open arms and made me feel so special and loved and they wanted me to be there,” Adams said.

That much is made evident in her episode five debut. In a clip released by ABC, one contestant, Ivan Hall, is shown saying, “I like her way more than Clare already. I can say that, honestly.”

The Men Began to Turn on Clare Just Prior to Her Departure

ABC/Craig SjodinClare Crawley speaks with her suitors on ‘The Bachelorette.’

Tayshia didn’t have much of any idea of how things unfolded prior to her arrival on The Bachelorette‘s film set. If she had a chance to watch the first four episodes of the show, perhaps she wouldn’t have been so nervous. Because very few of the 16 men who were left behind seemed too broken up about the transition to a new lead.

One contestant, Kenny Braasch, spent most of episode four speaking with other contestants about how furious he was that Crawley hadn’t awarded a rose on a group date.

It wasn’t entirely unanimous, though. Blake Moynes had an early connection with Crawley (thanks to a bit of rule breaking) and Jason Foster felt good about their relationship after a one-on-one date in episode two. But the other 14 men seemed nothing short of ecstatic about the thought of a fresh start.

Tayshia Carries the Weight of High Expectations Now

ABCTayshia Adams, is taking over as the Bachelorette for season 16.

Many viewers were furious with the way Clare handled her time as the lead. In one of her first group dates of the season, she was accused of sexually harassing half the men on the show during a game of strip dodgeball. But it was her unabashed favoritism of Dale Moss that bordered on obsession that really struck a nerve with fans.

It was never much of a secret that Tayshia would eventually take over, so fans had to sit and impatiently wait for Clare’s love story with Dale to end.

Now that it’s finally Tayshia’s turn to take the wheel, there’s a lot of pressure for her to handle the role well. On the one hand, the bar is pretty low to satisfy fans who will say anybody is better than Clare. On the other hand, there’s an expectation that she’s already miles better at the role than her predecessor.

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