The Bachelorette star Clare Crawley's good friend, The Bachelor alum Michelle Money, is denying multiple reports Clare communicated with her bachelor suitor Dale Moss prior to the start of filming Season 16 in July, dismissing them as "fake news."
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"Clare Crawley never spoke to Dale before filming. That is 1,000 percent factual information," Michelle 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."
Late last week, news broke that Clare wanted to quit The Bachelorette process prematurely because she had "already fallen in love" with one of her bachelors, Dale, just 12 days into filming, which began on July 18.
A source told Life & Style that Clare even "refused to come out of her room" at one point to film.
"Now, I will say this: 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 and stop the whole process of amazing romantic dates with numerous guys -- including the guy she 'fell in love with,' [but] we don't know for sure -- that says so much about Clare," Michelle reportedly gushed in her Instagram Stories.
"All I know is that if all this stuff is true, I have never been more proud of my friend, Clare Crawley -- ever. My only hope and prayer at this point in time is that the rumors are true and that's potentially pregnant already."
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Reports swirled earlier this week Clare and Dale's love affair began way before cameras even started rolling at the La Quinta Resort and Club in Palm Springs, CA.
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.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOWAnd according to Us Weekly, Dale made a move on Clare during the four-month hiatus leading up to the start of The Bachelorette production last month.
Dale "contacted her before the show and they really hit it off," a source told Us. "They would DM a bunch and then started FaceTiming and things moved quickly."
The source added that the 31-year-old model and former college basketball and football player from Brandon, SC, "always thought Clare was attractive before they even met" and she is "totally his type and he loved her energy."
People reported similar findings earlier this week, revealing that one of Clare's potential bachelors "found a way to get in touch with her and they began talking" earlier this year.
"By the time filming officially began, they were basically already in love. No one else stood a chance," the source 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."
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The Bachelor alum Tayshia Adams, who competed on Colton Underwood's The Bachelor edition, was therefore brought in as a back-up The Bachelorette star.
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Entertainment Tonight then confirmed on Monday that Tayshia is taking over Season 16 of The Bachelorette for Clare and both women's journey to find love will 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).
Clare allegedly left The Bachelorette set on good terms with producers, but the production team had to scramble and pick up the pieces two weeks into filming.
"Tayshia was game and ready to go," a People source said. "What remains to be seen is if more men will be brought in now to give Tayshia a full roster of suitors."
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, who allegedly had her phone taken away and was already quarantining last week.
"Because of quarantine, it's not as simple as just starting over," the People insider explained.
"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."
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Clare gave her First Impression Rose to Dale, according to Carbone. And now Clare and Dale are reportedly engaged.
Clare actually admitted to doing some research on the original cast of 32 potential men during a June appearance on The Bachelorette alums Rachel Lindsay and Becca Kufrin's Bachelor Happy Hour podcast.
"Obviously. What woman wouldn't, are you kidding me?" Clare confessed when asked if she had googled her group of bachelors after filming was postponed in March.
"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."
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"You can kind of tell people's lifestyles from their Instagram Stories," Clare added at the time. "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.
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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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
