Dean Unglert believes Dale Moss only got back together with former The Bachelorette star Clare Crawley for good PR and to repair his reputation following the pair's tense January 2021 split.
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"I know exactly what happened... And I'm gonna speak very matter of factly because that's just how confident I am in this assessment that I'm about to make," Dean began on the October 4 episode of his "Help! I Suck at Dating" podcast with fellow The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise alum Jared Haibon.
"Dale and Clare got engaged after that, like, incredibly abbreviated amount of time on the show, right? Everyone was like, 'Wow, crazy, Clare blew up the show for Dale,' and whatever. That's crazy in and of itself, but Dale, I feel like, was never fully invested in the relationship -- that's why they broke up."
When Clare and Dale first broke up in January, multiple sources had described Dale as a "fame-seeker" and partyboy in New York City.
Reports also swirled at the time Dale had cheated on Clare, who had been very clear from the start about her intentions to get married, settle down and have children in the near future. (Dale firmly denied the cheating allegations at the time).
"Once they broke up, Dale started to see the backlash that he was receiving -- and Dale, he's not an idiot, you know, he got very bad press, like, very bad PR," Dean explained.
"I think he wants to get into hosting and all this kind of stuff and it's like with that kind of negative press around you, you're not going to get any of those jobs."
At the time of Dale and Clare's first split, Dale broke the news first in a January 19 statement saying it was "the healthiest decision" for the "both of them," but then Clare revealed two days later on social media she had been blindsided by Dale's public announcement.
Clare wrote on Instagram at the time, "I was made aware of a 'mutual' statement at the same time you all were, so I've needed some time to really digest this."
Clare admitted she was "crushed" by the breakup and had been "genuinely invested" in Dale with all of her heart. Dale insisted at the time he loved and respected Clare and "wanted nothing more" than to make their relationship work.
"He starts to see all this backlash he's receiving and so what's his response? He wants to then get back together with Clare because he knows that with Clare, he can achieve his professional goals a lot easier," Dean claimed.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW"So he gets back together with Clare, the script starts to turn around back and people start to like Dale a little bit more, he starts to see more brand opportunities come through. There's no denying that's definitely the truth," Dean alleged.
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Dean said he believes once the pair got back together, Dale started to remember "why they broke up the first time and how incompatible they are."
"And he's already kind of saved face in the eyes of everyone else out there," Dean noted.
"And so [Dale] is like, 'Okay, cool, now we can break up and there's gonna be no bad blood because it's, like, we got back together, we tried and we were together for a little bit longer.' So 100 percent it was a PR move from Dale to be able to find a career [in] hosting or whatever it is."
Dean concluded that he believes his "assessment" to be "so true" and he "won't accept anything else," and this is a "strange hill" he's willing to die on.
Following a week of breakup reports, cheating rumors, and emotional Instagram posts from Clare alluding to a painful time in her life, Dale confirmed the pair's second -- and reportedly official and permanent -- split on Monday, October 4.
Dale's representative released a statement to multiple press outlets saying Dale and Clare had broken up in mid-September but then Dale flew to Clare's home in Sacramento, CA, on Tuesday, September 28 to be with the Season 16 The Bachelorette star as her mother's condition with dementia and Alzheimer's worsened.
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Dale's Wednesday "work obligation" was apparently a fitness event with The Bachelorette alum Tyler Cameron, and eyewitnesses said Dale appeared to be in great spirits.
"It is unfortunate that the next time Dale heard anything from Clare it was on social media," the statement noted.
On Thursday, Clare announced on Instagram her mother had been placed in hospice care, and she apparently took shots at Dale -- without naming him -- by saying she didn't want to comment on her relationship because people can easily put on an "act" and create a narrative.
Clare also tagged Bachelor in Paradise bachelorette Abigail Heringer in her post -- which suggested Clare believes recent rumors Dale and Abigail "hooked up" earlier this year are true -- and thanked people who love her unconditionally and for "no personal gain, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE CAMERAS ARE OFF with no accolades."
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On October 4, Dale refused to speak publicly about rumors surrounding his relationship with Clare and asked for privacy in order to respect Clare and her family during this difficult time, which apparently brought Clare to her knees this past weekend.
On Dean and Jared's podcast, Jared gave Dale the benefit of the doubt, but only to a certain extent.
"I think Dale went on [The Bachelorette] to possibly find love, but he also went on the show for a business opportunity as well. I think he wanted to experience The Bachelor fame or experience," Jared reasoned.
"I think Dale met Clare, liked Clare, and I think Clare fell head over heels for Dale and was all in from Day 1 and didn't want anybody else -- and Dale was like, 'Okay, I like you, let's take it slow,' and Clare did not want to take it slow. And so ever since then, it's been this battle of Clare wanting to move forward and move quickly."
Jared believes the back and forth came to a head recently with Clare asking Dale to be all in or all out, and he chose to be "out."
"I would bet a million dollars -- that I don't have -- that if Dale was the Bachelor and Clare was on his season, she would never have made it to his final one... He would not have chosen her at the end, it would have been some other girl," Dean shared.
Jared agreed and chose to take things one step further.
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Dale never had the chance to back out of The Bachelorette because Clare lasered in on him on Night 1 and had her heart set on being with the former football player only two weeks into filming. After an unprecedented and rushed Fantasy Suite date, Clare chose Dale and he popped the question.
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Clare and Dale then left the show together and Tayshia Adams became the new Bachelorette for Season 16 with what time was left.
"I don't think Dale is ready for a relationship like that," Dean added.
Jared admitted, however, "What I do blame Dale for is proposing. It's a show and it's a format and you probably felt pressure, but come on. If you're not all in, don't propose, bro."
As far as recent rumors about Dale and Abigail go, an insider close to Dale recently told Us Weekly that Dale and Abigail once met at flag football in New York City when a bunch of Bachelor Nation people attended.
"Everyone went to a bar after, they did not sleep together. He's never cheated on Clare," the insider said, adding that Dale and Abigail "never kissed or had sex."
"Dale is friends with Abigail," the insider noted.
Amid the drama, Abigail's Bachelor in Paradise boyfriend, Noah Erb, seemingly addressed the scandal on his Instagram Stories this past weekend.
Noah said in a video, "So, I just checked my phone and I saw some DMs and some spoiler accounts and a lot of interesting stuff swirling around. Huh."
A woman could then be heard giggling in the background, leading fans to assume that Abigail was with him and she finds the Dale rumors funny.
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The last Instagram post of Clare and Dale together dates back to September 10, when Clare shared a slideshow of photos from the U.S. Open tennis tournament, one of which featured Dale by her side along with fellow The Bachelorette couple Katie Thurston and Blake Moynes.
But breakup rumors didn't spark until Dale reportedly attended a friend's September 19 wedding by himself even though Clare had also been invited as Dale's guest and then Dale celebrated his 33rd birthday without Clare, who also never publicly mentioned his birthday.
Earlier this summer, Clare and Dale's relationship appeared to be strong and they were even wearing matching rings.
"It's more of a promise and commitment from Dale and there's no wedding planning at this time," a source told E! News in July.
"They had a conversation over a month ago about their future and decided that they wanted to be engaged again... They aren't rushing anything and aren't even living together permanently yet."
An insider also told Us at the time that Clare and Dale were "happy" together and very much in love.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
