The Bachelorette rumors are swirling that The Bachelor alum Tayshia Adams is replacing Clare Crawley as the star of The Bachelorette's sixteenth season, which is currently in production.
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Speculation that Tayshia, who initially competed for Colton Underwood's heart on The Bachelor's 23rd season, is replacing Clare as The Bachelorette's Season 16 star began in earnest with a Friday post on Reddit by someone claiming to be "the owner of a bachelor spoiler account."
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"[I] got some info on Monday about Clare's season. I didn't post this on my account because people go crazy if it turns out not to be 100% true," the poster wrote on Reddit.
"Please note this is unverified information: On Monday I got some messages saying that production is having a lot of problems with Clare during filming. Among other things, she cancelled everything that was supposed to happen on that Saturday before, and they called in a new bachelorette."
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"They are recasting her with Tayshia," the poster continued.
"Tayshia is already quarantining at the hotel and they should be taking her phone on Friday (today). The plan is for her to call back some of guys that have already been eliminated."
The Reddit post occurred shortly after last week's reports that Clare wanted to quit The Bachelorette only two weeks into filming because she had already fallen in love with one bachelor and producers were inviting "backup" contestants to return to the Palm Springs, CA resort at which the season is being filmed
According to the Reddit poster, they withheld their The Bachelorette information for several days because it seemed like "a bit of a stretch" at first.
"[I] didn't believe it. Then that magazine article came out and it made it more believable, and today Reality Steve said that he heard some of the guys got called to come back. All of that is pointing to what I got told on Monday so I figured I would share."
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Life & Style had also reported similar findings about the status of Clare's The Bachelorette season.
After Us Weekly reported late last week The Bachelorette producers are trying to track down rejected bachelor candidates -- men who were not selected as part of the Night 1 cast but were among the 42 potential candidates released by ABC last month -- and bring them back to appear on the show, an insider told Life & Style, "Producers would like to 'match [Tayshia] up with the bachelors who are left.'"
Production is reportedly hoping to use the same set of suitors originally selected for Clare as Tayshia's lineup of guys, which would presumably include the men still on the show after a couple of weeks of filming as well as previously-announced possible bachelors who were cut by producers before Night 1.
Considering Clare's cast of 42 potential candidates went through a lengthy casting process and had to follow through with specific health and safety protocols amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, "execs hope the guys will still want to participate," according to the Life & Style insider.
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"It took them time to test them all for COVID and they've already been quarantined at the resort for 14 days," the insider added.
While Reality Steve spoiler blogger Steve Carbone said he could not confirm if Tayshia will indeed be stepping into Clare's shoes as the Bachelorette for Season 16, he said the Reddit posting had "some serious validity."
"(MAJOR SPOILER): I've been made aware of this Reddit post making the rounds. Been on the phone for the last 2 hrs digging. I cannot confirm with 100% certainty if it's true yet," Carbone tweeted on Friday.
"But if you ask my opinion, I think there is some serious validity to it based on what I'm hearing now."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
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Carbone elaborated on Twitter, "There's a lot to take in here that I don't have answers to yet (assuming this is true), but I will report back when I hear/know more...I don't have any definitive answers as of now."
There also appears to be additional evidence circulating that Tayshia may be the franchise's new Bachelorette.
According to Entertainment Tonight, Clare briefly returned to Twitter, when she "liked" a tweet about Tayshia on Sunday.
"I'm sure many would be thrilled with Tayshia, too!!" the tweet read.
Clare reportedly unliked the post on Monday morning, ET reported, but screenshots of the social-media activity are widespread online.
In addition, Tayshia has stopped posting on her social media accounts, which could be an indication she's had her phone taken away to film The Bachelorette.
Tayshia's friend Demi Burnett, who also competed for Colton's heart on The Bachelor in 2019, told Carbone during an Instagram Live session on Saturday that a text message she sent Tayshia over the weekend was never delivered, Us reported.
It's standard for production to take away and turn off The Bachelor or The Bachelorette cast's phones amid filming.
Clare reportedly began filming Season 16 of The Bachelorette on July 18, but a source told Life & Style last week Clare fell head over heels quickly for bachelor suitor Dale Moss and told producers she wanted to end the process early.
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"Producers are scrambling to figure out what to do," a source told the magazine, adding that Clare even "refused to come out of her room" at one point.
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"They are frantic trying to pick up the pieces without having to start over completely."
According to Carbone, Clare gave Dale the coveted First Impression Rose at the start of filming last month.
Dale was one of the original group of 32 prospective bachelors ABC announced in March before The Bachelorette season's production was postponed at the last minute due to the coronavirus pandemic, and Clare has admitted she used the four-month hiatus to research the men online.
"Obviously. What woman wouldn't, are you kidding me?" Clare told Rachel Lindsay and Becca Kufrin during a June appearance on their Bachelor Happy Hour podcast when asked if she had googled her group of bachelors after filming was postponed.
"I will say this. At first, I really didn't [Google the guys]. I really did not and it was because, I don't know. I just kind of felt like I want to get to know them, and I know how my Instagram is -- it's a piece of my life," Clare said.
"It's one of those [things] you have to see and feel it in person, and so regardless of what their life is and what it looks like on their Instagram, it's nice to actually see them in person. I am huge on pheromones, so that's like the end all for me, if they smell amazing."
She added, "But I will say, I have looked a little bit. My friends have looked more than I have, to be honest. They're like, 'Did you see this or did you see that?'"
The unique situation appears to have created an online dating-like scenario in which Clare appears to have effectively gotten to pre-screen many of her The Bachelorette bachelors before she met them in person during Night 1 of filming.
(Only 17 of the original 32 bachelors ended up still being part of the revised pool of 42 potential bachelors when The Bachelorette season finally commenced filming in July.)
"You can kind of tell people's lifestyles from their Instagram Stories," Clare continued on Bachelor Happy Hour.
"And I see some where I'm like, 'Mmm, that's not really my vibe.' And others where I look at them and say, 'Oh, that's hot. I can't wait to meet that guy and I hope he's on my season."
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.
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Given the unusual production situation, ABC has yet to announce a fall premiere date for Season 16. However, the show will air on Tuesday nights at 8PM ET/PT this fall.
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.
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Tayshia, a 29-year-old phlebotomist from Orange County, CA, was widely reported to be a frontrunner to star on The Bachelorette's fifteenth season last year, but the position ultimately went to Hannah Brown.
Tayshia therefore appeared on last year's edition of Bachelor in Paradise, where she fell in love with John Paul Jones but dumped him before the season concluded. While the couple briefly reconciled and began dating in the real world after leaving Paradise, Tayshia and John Paul ultimately split in October 2019.
Just days before Clare was announced as The Bachelorette's Season 16 leading lady, Tayshia admitted to ET that she would be "ready" for the gig.
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"I have to say, anything that comes my way, I am ready for," Tayshia shared in late February. "I am ready for love!"
Clare was a 32-year-old from Sacramento, CA, when she was first introduced to Bachelor Nation on Juan Pablo Galavis' season of The Bachelor in 2014. She finished as his runner-up.
Clare then unsuccessfully continued to search for love on Seasons 1 and 2 of Bachelor in Paradise, which aired on ABC in 2014 and 2015.
Clare got engaged to French Canadian bachelor Benoit Beausejour-Savard on the reunion special for The Bachelor Winter Games, which aired in early 2018, but they broke up in April of that year.
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