ABC Clare Crawley poses with the season 16 contestants on 'The Bachelorette.'
Today is Election Day. Bachelor Nation is among the millions of Americans who have advance voted or are preparing to go to their polling place. While a typical season airs on Monday, the production delays amid the COVID-19 pandemic have caused The Bachelorette to air on Tuesdays this season and thus created a scheduling conflict. For this week only, viewers will have to tune in on Thursday to see how Clare Crawley’s journey in the dating franchise continues.
“Hey, Bachelor Nation. When I said this was the most dramatic season ever, I wasn’t lying,” said Host Chris Harrison in a promo. “The Bachelorette is on Thursday this week and believe me when I say you don’t want to miss this one.”
The Bachelorette will air on Thursday, November 5, at 8/7c. The season will return to its normally scheduled Tuesday nights on November 10.
Here’s what you need to know. Please be advised, there will be spoilers below.
‘The Bachelorette’ Will Continue Airing on Tuesdays Starting Next Week
In recent years, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have aired on Mondays. However, when production shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, the season’s airdates were pushed into the Dancing With The Stars season. To accommodate these two Monday night shows, The Bachelorette was bumped to Tuesday night.
This posed a problem for November 3’s Election Day coverage, so the dating franchise will air on Thursday this week.
The show will then revert to Tuesday nights for the remainder of the season. ABC has confirmed the dating show will air on November 10 and November 17.
While a confirmed finale date has not yet been released, Matt James’ season of The Bachelor is set to air this January. Popsugar is predicting the following schedule for the remainder of the season:
“Thursday, Nov. 5 — Episode 4: Clare leaves and Tayshia arrives! Note that this episode is on a different night than usual because of Election Day coverage on Tuesday, Nov. 3
Tuesday, Nov. 10 — Episode 5: One-on-one date, group date, two-on-one date
Tuesday, Nov. 17 — Episode 6: One-on-one date, group date, one-on-one date
Tuesday, Nov. 24 — Episode 7: One-on-one date, second one-on-one date, third one-on-one date
Tuesday, Dec. 1 — Episode 8: Some form of “meet the family” dates. This would usually be the hometown visits week, but with COVID-19 filming restrictions, we’re assuming that there won’t be any traveling out to the hometowns — families might visit the resort after quarantining or do some kind of virtual visit.
Tuesday, Dec. 8 — Episode 9: Fantasy suites
Tuesday, Dec. 15 — Episode 10: “The Men Tell All” special episode
Tuesday, Dec. 22 — Episode 11: Part one of the season finale
Tuesday, Dec. 29 — Episode 12: Part two of the season finale and the “After the Rose” special”
Crawley and Moss Will Depart the Show
It seems viewers are finally going to find out how Crawley blew up The Bachelorette. As promos have long been teasing, the moment Crawley tearfully speaks with host Chris Harrison before she exits the series is coming up in Thursday’s episode. Despite rumors starting this summer, ABC has denied any change in the franchise’s lead until last week.
Viewers, and the other contestants, saw Crawley hone in on former NFL player Dale Moss. Not only did he receive the most time and the rose on a group date, but he was also the topic of conversation during another group date where no one received a rose. ABC Executive Rob Mills said this was when production knew a shake-up would likely be necessary.
Despite Crawley exiting as lead, Mills did note viewers will catch up with the couple later in the season.
Tayshia Adams Will Step in as Bachelorette
Reports started to swirl in July that Tayshia Adams stepped in as the lead of The Bachelorette after being spotted on set at the La Quinta Resort and Club near Palm Springs, California. However, ABC refused to acknowledge what everyone already knew.
That was, until last week when the episode ended with Adams emerging from a pool. This marked the first mention of her involvement in the season. While they have yet to officially call her “the Bachelorette,” a new promo shows Harrison tell Crawley’s remaining men, “your new Bachelorette is on her way here right now.” Four additional men will join the cast to pursue a relationship with Adams.
Adams is expected to finish out the season as the lead.
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