When Tayshia Adams was brought into to production of The Bachelorette to replace Clare Crawley as the season 16 lead, she had no idea what she was walking into — only that something serious must have happened if she was suddenly the star of the show. Tayshia’s run as the Bachelorette was unprecedented and beyond chaotic (thanks, Clare), but it was exactly what she wanted: based on her decisions and no one else's.
In a new interview with Us Weekly, Tayshia discussed her time on the new season, sharing that her decisions were not at all influenced by what Clare had gone through at the LaQuinta Resort. The Bachelorettes were at the production site around the same time, but the team kept them away from each other — a move that Tayshia is ultimately very grateful for because it allowed her to go into the situation without any preconceived notions.
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“Even if I did have the opportunity [to talk to Clare], I don’t know if I would have asked,” Tayshia told Us Weekly. “I have learned that you have to give everybody a chance, and you never know what that’s going to look like. It might not look like the same for you as it did for somebody else.”
Clare probably wouldn’t have been much help in terms of getting important reconnaissance on the contestants anyway; she barely knew any of them. Her time as the Bachelorette was mostly spent falling in love with Dale Moss. Even when Dale wasn’t there in person, he was with Clare in spirit, so she didn’t give herself the time to connect with any of her other boyfriends. After four weeks of The Bachelorette, audiences at home still don’t know who to root for because we barely know any of these guys’ names — that’s how Dale-centered the show has been up to this point.
While the surface-level connection we have with the men at this point may be concerning, it was nothing but a plus for Tayshia. Since most of the contestants had no real connection with Clare, their hearts were mostly open to the idea of courting another woman. Tayshia did do a casual social media sweep early in the game, but she essentially came into the season not knowing what she was up against.
“I didn’t really have the chance to look at them before. And I’m glad I didn’t, to be honest," said Tayshia. "I couldn’t have asked for, like, a better group of men. I’ve always said that I want an older, more mature man that has depth and all of these guys have exactly that. It was, like, perfect.”
“Every single guy really reassured me that they were so happy and excited," she continued. "And once I had that confidence, I was like, OK, I got this."
If you ask me, ABC really should have brought in brand new men for our girl to date — but if Tayshia likes it, I love it.
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