Like so many other members of Bachelor Nation, I hate to admit that I am disappointed by this season of The Bachelor. Pilot Pete had so much promise, the sweet Cali boy we met on Hannah B’s season who liked to make out on countertops, tables, boats, against walls or against any surfaces really. The man, who on After the Final Rose made sure we knew it was not one, not two, but four times that night in the windmill… in front of a live audience that included his parents might I add. But the fun-loving season we thought we were in for has been riddled with drama and it seems like as an audience we’re pretty much over it.
Not all of this has to do with Peter, for the last two years it seems like producers at ABC have handpicked contestants that are destined to instigate conflict. On Colton’s season, it was the Caelynn/Hannah B drama, a storyline somewhat similar to what we saw play out this season between Victoria P. and Alayah. For Becca’s season it was Colton’s history with fellow Bachelor alum Tia, which by the way, Becca’s a true boss and handled it with the perfect amount of grace and dignity. And finally, I almost don’t even want to mention it because I’m so annoyed but the StageCoach debacle of 2019 that ruined all of Paradise.
For a show that’s trying so hard to prove that real people can fall in love on TV, they are giving their leads A LOT of work to do. Bringing it back to this season, Peter is sadly kind of boring and has been rewarding the most problematic behaviour all season long. Totally not meant to be shady though, he seems like a really nice guy. On a brighter note, with their choice of Clare Crawley as our next Bachelorette, it seems producers are finally listening to what fans are saying.
I realize some of you might be newer fans of the franchise, so let me give Clare a brief introduction. We first met her on Juan Pablo’s season of The Bachelor, and if you don’t know that name consider yourself lucky because he was the worst. After being runner-up, Crawley went on to do the first two seasons of Bachelor in Paradise, on the second season sharing a brief romance with fan favourite Jared Haibon. (Luckily all is right with the world and Jared got married to longtime on and off again love interest Ashley I. last year). Most recently Crawley graced our screens in the spin-off series Bachelor Winter Games, where she sparked a relationship with Montreal native Benoît Beauséjour-Savard, the couple getting engaged on the live show following the series but unfortunately breaking it off about a month later.
Now that you know a bit about Clare, here’s a few reasons why I think she was chosen to be the Bachelorette.
AGE
Firstly she’s 38 years old and I have to say looking AMAZING for it. Obviously, nobody can tell another person what they are/aren’t ready for, but in recent years the show has received backlash for casting contestants who are viewed as too young to be considering marriage. I think age is also relevant as producers may think that having an older cast might help to eliminate some of the drama that we’ve been seeing, and many have been complaining about on platforms like Twitter.
ATTITUDE
Crawley is known for having a no non-sense attitude, her speech after being broken up with by Juan Pablo has become one of the benchmark moments for the series and if you have a moment I urge you to look it up on YouTube. Needless to say, this woman is a badass who knows what she wants.
FOLLOWING
She’s relevant… enough. Clare hasn’t been out of the reality TV circuit too long; Bachelor Winter Games having aired two years ago in 2018. Her numerous appearances across the franchise have also allowed her to amass a following on Instagram of nearly half a mill. Sure, there’s room to grow, but enough people know who she is to tune in out of curiosity at the very least.
L-O-V-E
Fans on social media have put it simply, they want showrunners to focus more on the romance element. Crawley has been engaged before and is obviously very serious about taking the next step in her life and finding a partner. As an audience, we might be looking at a really good opportunity to watch real love stories unfolding in the most unimaginable circumstances this season.
To wrap it up, was Clare Crawley my first choice for Bachelorette? No, she wasn’t even in my top five picks and I wouldn’t describe her even as one of my favourite members of the Bachelor family. However, ABC you’ve piqued my curiosity and so I’ll tune in this spring/summer to see what happens. If nothing else, it’s still just an excuse to drink wine with my girlfriends on a weeknight.