Rumors And Spoilers About The Bachelorette's Season 16

As any Bachelorette fan knows, Bachelor franchise host Chris Harrison always promises the next season will be far more dramatic than the last. And, according to rumors and spoilers from longtime fans and inside sources, it certainly seems like Season 16 of The Bachelorette is shaping up to be the actual most dramatic season ever. 

On March 2, 2020, following Peter Weber's confusing season of The Bachelor, Clare Crawley was announced on Good Morning America as the next Bachelorette. Clare, who fans know from Juan Pablo Galavis' season of The Bachelor and stints on shows like Bachelor in Paradise and The Bachelor Winter Games, would be the oldest Bachelorette in franchise history — a stark contrast to the young twenty-somethings towards which the show has been known to gravitate.

However, according to Bachelor spoiler accounts — including longtime Bachelor blogger and professional spoiler Reality Steve – Clare's season of The Bachelorette isn't going to be a "normal" season. In fact, it might even be a reach to call it "Clare's season." Confused yet? Here's a rundown of the rumors and spoilers about Season 16 of The Bachelorette.

Longtime viewers of The Bachelorette know just how significant the First Impression Rose (a.k.a. the FIR) is.

As its name implies, this rose is given to the man who makes the best (or, at the very least, most memorable) first impression on the Bachelorette. And while Bachelors don't have the best track record of ending up with the women who received their First Impression Roses, Bachelorettes have an impressive success rate. According to Entertainment Tonight, six Bachelorettes have ended up engaged to their First Impression Rose recipients — proving that the ladies of the Bachelor franchise truly know what they want. 

According to Steve Carbone — the longtime blogger famous for spoiling Bachelor franchise seasons on his website, RealitySteve.com — Clare Crawley, the lead of Season 16 of The Bachelorette, gave her First Impression Rose to Dale Moss, a former NFL player (via PopSugar), to kick off Season 16. And if the rumors are true, it seems that Clare might just be the seventh Bachelorette to have a happy ending with her FIR choice.

Fans of The Bachelorette were delighted when it was announced in March 2020 that Clare Crawley would be helming the show's 16th season.

A franchise favorite, Clare has been around the block a time or two — appearing on The Bachelor, two seasons of Bachelor in Paradise, and The Bachelor Winter Games, as noted by Good Morning America. However, fans were most excited about the history Clare was set to make as the lead of Season 16 of The Bachelorette. After all, considering the Bachelorette turned 39 on March 20, 2020, the contestant-turned-lead holds the title of being the franchise's oldest Bachelorette. Love isn't just for twenty-somethings!

However, excitement quickly turned to confusion when Reality Steve's Steve Carbone posted a tweet on July 31, 2020, saying there was "serious validity" to a rumor stating that production had experienced "a lot of problems" with Clare and had decided to recast her. According to the rumor, which originated on Reddit, Clare had reportedly cancelled everything that was supposed to happen on a particular filming day, leaving producers scrambling to salvage the season. Of course, fans immediately wanted to know why Clare would seemingly sabotage her own season after waiting so long to find love.

While The Bachelorette usually follows a pretty specific formula each season, Season 16 is seemingly set to break the mold. 

On July 30, 2020, Life & Style reported that Clare Crawley had made the decision to quit her own season of The Bachelorette. According to the publication, Clare "no longer wanted to participate in the show," as she'd "already fallen in love" with contestant Dale Moss, the rumored recipient of her First Impression Rose. 

The insider continued, reportedly telling Life & Style that the Bachelorette had "refused to come out of her room" and left the Bachelorette production team "scrambling to figure out what to do." According to the publication, the source revealed that producers were completely freaked out when Clare decided to leave, as they were left frantically trying to devise a plan to salvage the season. After all, The Bachelorette needs, well, a Bachelorette — and the show's 16th season would have to be scrapped if they couldn't find a replacement.

Season 16 of The Bachelorette was meant to be Clare Crawley's time to shine. However, as rumors began swirling about Clare's whirlwind romance with contestant Dale Moss, the former NFL player quickly became one of the most famous names in Bachelor Nation — even though fans of the show technically hadn't "met" Clare's rumored beau. 

While not yet a household name, Dale Moss is no stranger to the spotlight. In fact, it seems that the Bachelorette contestant was well on his way to being a public figure before he reportedly shook up the entire Bachelor franchise. According to his website, OfficialDaleMoss.com, Dale has played for the Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Chicago Bears. And as if that weren't impressive enough, he's also represented by Wilhelmina Models, and he has been featured in global campaigns for multiple major brands.

In addition to being a professional model, Dale is an active philanthropist. According to his personal bio, Dale is a Special Olympics Global Ambassador, and he strives to make a difference by working with organizations like The Tiger Woods Foundation and Wounded Warriors Project. 

According to some fans, it seemed clear that Clare Crawley and Dale Moss had been in communication before Season 16 of The Bachelorette began filming. After all, Clare was only about two weeks into her season when she reportedly decided to quit (via Us Weekly), which is hardly long enough to fall in love with someone you'd just met — even by Bachelor franchise standards. 

Since Dale was one of the contestants originally cast for Clare before the global coronavirus pandemic delayed filming, fans began to speculate that the two had been communicating for months, which is why Clare felt confident in her connection with the contestant. However, according to former Bachelor contestant Michelle Money, Clare hadn't talked to Dale before meeting him while filming The Bachelorette. 

In an Instagram Story recorded by a fan and posted to Reddit, Michelle revealed, "She was impressed by his social media account, but never DM'ed, never texted, never talked." Michelle said that if the rumors about Clare finding love with Dale are true, she was proud of her friend for having the "self-respect" and the "respect for the other men" to stop filming.

Season 16 of The Bachelorette had already experienced a major delay in filming due to the global coronavirus pandemic, so when it was reported in July 2020 that Bachelorette Clare Crawley had decided to leave the show after only about two weeks of filming, fans (and producers) were worried that the season would be permanently tabled.

However, Bachelor producers are nothing if not resourceful, and the franchise is full of eligible women any group of contestants would be thrilled to meet. And as luck would have it, one of those women reportedly just so happened to be a fan-favorite contestant from Colton Underwood's season of The Bachelor: Tayshia Adams.

"Tayshia was game and ready to go," an inside source told People of the producers' decision to replace Clare with Tayshia. According to the source, Clare may have already eliminated some men from her group of contestants before reportedly making the decision to ride off into the sunset with Dale Moss. "What remains to be seen is if more men will be brought in now to give Tayshia a full roster of suitors," the anonymous insider told the publication. 

Fans of The Bachelorette were taken by surprise when it was reported that Bachelorette Clare Crawley had been replaced by Tayshia Adams — a finalist from Colton Underwood's season of The Bachelor. After all, considering Peter Weber's Bachelor season had just wrapped in March 2020, many fans might have assumed producers would have chosen a fan favorite from the indecisive pilot's group of gals, such as Madison Prewett or Hannah Ann Sluss.

However, it seems Tayshia had been a Bachelorette contender for longer than some fans might have realized. In a March 2019 interview with E! News, ABC executive Rob Mills revealed that Tayshia was one of five women in the running to be the Bachelorette for Season 15, though Hannah Brown was ultimately chosen for the leading role. 

Speaking with Vulture about not landing the Bachelorette gig in March 2019, Tayshia revealed, "I'm okay with it." The reality star continued, saying, "It would've been really, really nice to get The Bachelorette, but I'm really happy with where I'm at." Of course, no one could have predicted where she'd be just a little more than a year later!

For fans of The Bachelorette, it's safe to say August 2020 will go down as one of the most surprising, exciting, and confusing months in franchise history. 

While Steve Carbone first discussed the rumor of Tayshia Adams replacing Clare Crawley as Bachelorette on July 31, publications like People didn't report on the hot piece of gossip until Aug. 4, 2020. And before fans could even truly wrap their heads around this unexpected development, more tea started pouring from The Bachelorette's spout. 

The same day People reported that Tayshia would be stepping into the lead role for Season 16 of The Bachelorette, former Bachelor contestant Hannah Ann Sluss was spotted carrying quite a hefty suitcase into the resort where the show was being filmed (via Us Weekly). And, as if Hannah Ann's presence wasn't confusing enough, another Bachelor franchise favorite was also reported to be on location: Becca Kufrin. However, a source who spoke with E! News claimed there was a very simple explanation for why Becca and Hannah Ann showed up at the resort, telling the publication the women were simply there "to lend support."

Fans of The Bachelorette love a good, old-fashioned, dramatic twist — and the sightings of Hannah Ann Sluss and Becca Kufrin at the filming location for Season 16, as reported by Us Weekly, had some Bachelorette diehards believing Tayshia Adams wouldn't be the only woman looking for love. 

On Aug. 5, 2020, a Twitter user theorized that Hannah Ann and Becca would be included as leads alongside Tayshia Adams. According to the Bachelorette fan, producers could have decided to "create a PANEL of bachelorettes for the guys to choose from." The fan continued, "Lots of options opened up with group dates and even potential competition between the women." Added the Twitter user, "There will be three engagements."

However, longtime Bachelor blogger Steve Carbone offered a different idea about the role Hannah Ann and Becca would play. "Those two have something in common: they were initially chosen, then not," Carbone tweeted. He continued, writing, "What if their presence is nothing more than them talking to the guys still there about being 'second choice?'"

Historically, The Bachelorette has made a significant effort to prevent spoilers from leaking and ruining "the most dramatic season ever" — which, as fans of the Bachelor franchise know, happens to be every season (according to host Chris Harrison, at least). 

However, the twists and turns of Season 16 of The Bachelorette were impossible for producers to hide from fans. In fact, Bachelor Nation seemingly spilled the beans. The day before People reported that Tayshia Adams would be replacing Clare Crawley as Bachelorette, several franchise favorites publicly congratulated Tayshia on her exciting new gig as Bachelorette — even though ABC hadn't confirmed the rumors. 

"I have been fighting for inclusion, and I've said before that Tayshia would be an excellent Bachelorette, so I am more than happy to pass the torch," Rachel Lindsay, the franchise's first Black Bachelorette, told Entertainment Tonight. Even Tayshia's ex, Colton Underwood, offered somewhat encouraging words — even if a little snarky. "Congrats [Tayshia Adams]," the former Bachelor tweeted. Subtly referencing the time Tayshia called out his horrible kissing skills (via Cosmopolitan), Colton continued, "Good luck and I hope you find yourself a better kisser." Awkward!