The Bachelorette alum Dean Unglert says he's "not buying" the explanation Clare Crawley quit filming Season 16 prematurely because she fell in love with contestant Dale Moss, adding that the scenario seems "fishy."
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A source previously told Life & Style that Clare even "refused to come out of her room" at one point to film, and an insider told Us Weekly that The Bachelorette producers left "scrambling" and "frantic" about how to proceed with the show.
"I don't understand why Clare could just be like, 'Yep, this is the person I like. Let's just cut me off now,'" Dean, 29, told Us on Monday.
"There's gotta be something else and I don't know what it is... It just seems a little fishy."
Dean said he's "not buying" that explanation, adding, "It's a little too convenient that Clare fell in love and 12 days and left the filming of the show just to pursue the relationship with this guy."
The reasoning behind Dean's skepticism is that he believes former The Bachelor stars Ben Higgins and Nick Viall were "99.9 percent confident" about their final pick on their respective seasons "after 10 to 15 days of filming" -- but neither guy quit filming.
"I'm sure at some point they leaned over to production and they're like, 'Hey, can you just, like, cut this production short? Because I'm going to just pick this person anyways,'" Dean said.
"And they're always like, 'No, you can't do that. You signed a contract to film for three months or however long you have to finish out the show.'"
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The Bachelor alum Ashley Iaconetti, on the other hand, told Us that she believes in love at first sight and therefore thinks it's possible Clare had fallen head over heels for Dale right away.
However, Ashley, 32, admitted Clare probably should have continued with production anyway at La Quinta Resort and Club in Palm Springs, CA.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW"That's the safest way of doing it to avoid all the 'What if?'s in life," Ashley shared with the magazine.
"[Then] you'd never look back and think, 'Man, what would have happened if I didn't go with what I felt immediately and I let something grow?'"
Since Clare opted to end her The Bachelorette journey early, The Bachelor alum Tayshia Adams agreed to take over and step into the leading role.
However, Clare was just spotted with The Bachelorette host Chris Harrison on Sunday, and the pair appeared to be filming with production lights and crew surrounding them.
Clare was also spotted and photographed at The Bachelorette resort last week, which seemingly confirmed prior reports she's being "kept" at the resort despite the recent departure of Dale, who was hanging out in his hometown of Brandon, SD, earlier this month.
Reality Steve spoiler blogger Steve Carbone revealed in a recent Instagram Live session with The Bachelor alum Ashley Spivey, "Clare Crawley isn't leaving Southern California until this filming is over. She's there. She's not in South Dakota. She's not in Sacramento."
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"She is being kept there until this is all over... captive at La Quinta until this is all over... Unless there is a major change that happens, she is set to be at the resort," he added.
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"Dale being in South Dakota has not changed anything in terms of everything people have been reading. Clare is with Dale, I can tell you that. Are they engaged? I don't know," Carbone insisted.
"My guess is 'yes,' but I don't know for sure. But they are definitely together... and they brought Tayshia in to be the Bachelorette and now Tayshia is giving out roses and they are filming Tayshia's season of The Bachelorette."
News of Tayshia's participation first shocked the world on July 31 when a spoiler about her replacing Clare was posted on Reddit and then Carbone tweeted there was "some serious validity" to the posting.
Entertainment Tonight subsequently confirmed on August 3 that Tayshia is the new star of The Bachelorette but Clare's short journey to find love will also be featured on the show when it airs this fall on Tuesday nights at 8PM ET/PT on ABC. (An official premiere date has yet to be announced).
What remains to be seen is whether more men will be brought to the resort to date Tayshia, giving her a full roster of The Bachelorette suitors, or if she will only have Clare's remaining men to choose from.
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Us previously reported the production team began tracking down some of the 42 potential suitors -- who were announced in July as a revised list of candidates -- to come back and film for Tayshia.
"Because of quarantine, it's not as simple as just starting over," a source recently told People.
"Everyone is being tested and contained within this bubble so anyone coming from the 'outside' is potentially a problem. So that still needs to be fully resolved at this point in terms of Tayshia's suitors."
While it appears Clare and Dale fell in love in only 12 days of filming, multiple sources claim their love affair began way before cameras even started rolling at the La Quinta Resort and Club in July.
After The Bachelorette announced an initial cast of 32 potential bachelors and then filming of Season 16 was postponed in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, Clare admitted she googled some of the original cast, which included Dale.
And according to Us, Dale made a move on Clare during the four-month hiatus leading up to the start of The Bachelorette production last month.
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People recently reported similar findings, revealing that one of Clare's potential bachelors "found a way to get in touch with her and they began talking" earlier this year.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
"By the time filming officially began, they were basically already in love. No one else stood a chance," an insider explained to People.
"It just became so obvious from her subsequent few dates that her heart wasn't in it and she just wasn't feeling it. Then she said she wanted out."
The Bachelor alum Michelle Money, however, denied reports Clare communicated with Dale prior to the start of filming Season 16 in July, dismissing them as "fake news."
"Clare Crawley never spoke to Dale before filming. That is 1,000 percent factual information," Michelle, who is Clare's good friend, recently said in her Instagram Stories reposted by Access. "Never happened. Fake news."
"She was impressed by his social media account," conceded Michele, who competed for Brad Womack's heart on The Bachelor's fifteenth season and also appeared on Season 2 of Bachelor Pad.
"But never DM'd, never texted, never talked. 1,000 percent fake news... [And] if the rumors are true, that she fell in love with Dale and stopped filming, can I just get a 'hell yeah' on how much self-respect and respect for the other men it takes to stop production."
Clare and/or Tayshia's official and final set of bachelors who will star on The Bachelorette's sixteenth season will be confirmed at a later date.
The Bachelorette's new season was originally supposed to have premiered on May 18, but global health restrictions in light of coronavirus had shut down nearly all Hollywood productions.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
