The Bachelorette star Clare Crawley is encouraging more men to apply for her season, which has delayed production due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, although her cast of 32 potential bachelors was already announced by ABC last week.
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"I feel like since we have a break in the show right now, I don't think it's too late to submit people," the 39-year-old hairstylist said in a live Q&A session Tuesday on Instagram, according to Us Weekly.
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Late last week, The Bachelor host Chris Harrison revealed "production of The Bachelorette has been postponed for two weeks, at least," due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. And in a Tuesday Instagram live session, he reportedly admitted filming may be pushed back even more.
"So, submit them, why not?" Clare said of applications. "What's the worst that could happen?"
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It may be possible Clare, who will be the oldest The Bachelorette star the franchise has ever had, saw her list of potential suitors and isn't thrilled given more than half the men are still in their twenties.
Clare's good friend and The Bachelor alum Michelle Money, for example, vouched for Clare needing a mature, older partner in her Instagram Stories on Tuesday.
"Dear Bachelor Nation and Chris Harrison and Mike Fleiss and everyone in the casting department, I am calling for a state of emergency for and on behalf of Clare Crawley, who is a 39-year-old woman who is looking for the love of her life! Can we please put a little bit more energy, time and thoughtfulness into who we're casting while we have a few weeks of being quarantined?!" Michelle begged.
"[Let's] put like five minutes of thought into someone you guys might know who is late twenties, mainly thirties, but who is just manly -- like, a manly-man for Clare. I want my friend pregnant this time next year. Next year, I want her married and pregnant, not necessarily in that order."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR WINNERS ULTIMATELY END UP MARRYING?! (PHOTOS)
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"There's a girl in Sacramento waiting to find the love of her life," Michelle added.
"You get this opportunity only once... Let's give her her best shot at finding love... Forward [casting info] to your most eligible Bachelor friends who are in their 30s, maybe their 40s, [but] definitely not younger than 29."
Of the 32 bachelors ABC unveiled last week who may compete for Clare's heart on The Bachelorette's sixteenth season, 21 of them are age 29 or younger. One of her potential suitors is only 23 years old.
ABC reality chief Robert Mills, however, recently defended the younger contestants who may appear on the next season of The Bachelorette, which was originally scheduled to premiere on Monday, May 18.
"You look at Hannah Brown last season who was 24, and she was poised, confident and ready. And these girls [on Peter Weber's season] were, too," Robert told Variety in an interview.
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"Look at [Hannah Ann Sluss] in the end through the breakup -- that was a woman who knows herself and knows what she wanted. Look, someone like Clare is certainly deserving of love, but so is someone who's younger."
After Clare's call to action, Chris reportedly admitted in his Tuesday Instagram Live session "it's not such a bad idea" to continue casting for her season and "not out of the realm of possibility" to change things up.
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When Chris first announced The Bachelorette's postponement due to concerns over the coronavirus on Friday, March 13, he admitted ABC didn't feel it had much of a choice.
"Things are not changing by the day; they are changing by the hour. But I was consulted about this. It was not only the right thing to do; it was the only thing to do," Chris had said in the video.
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But Chris insisted the decision to push off filming was still "hard to make" considering so many people work to create the show and the cast of Clare's bachelors already took time out of the lives to appear on The Bachelorette.
"This is massive. Jobs will be lost, paychecks will be lost, and there's just no way to avoid that, and that doesn't avoid the fact that this was still the right thing to do and the only thing to do," Chris had explained.
Warner Bros. Television Group, which produces all Bachelor spinoffs, also issued a statement to Us on March 13 announcing production of The Bachelorette was going to be delayed.
"With the rapidly changing events related to COVID-19, and out of an abundance of caution, Warner Bros. Television Group is halting production on some of our 70-plus series and pilots currently filming or about to begin," The Bachelorette's production company told the magazine in a statement.
"There have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 on any of our productions, but the health and safety of our employees, casts and crews remains our top priority. During this time, we will continue to follow the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control as well as local officials and public health professionals in each city where our productions are based."
A source told the magazine at the time there were no plans to cancel the season entirely, but it remains unclear how the production delay will impact when the show begins airing on ABC.
Clare was announced as The Bachelorette's Season 16 star on the March 2 episode of Good Morning America.
The coronavirus pandemic has also affected production schedules of dozens of other television shows, including other reality shows like CBS' Survivor and The Amazing Race.
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