Author Spotlight
Caroline Chisholm
Bachelor nation was spun into a frenzy last Monday following the announcement of the newest Bachelorette: Clare Crawley. The decision came as a surprise considering she was first introduced to the Bachelor-verse all the way back in 2014. However, for true fanatics — like myself — she isn’t just another contestant.
Aside from her second place finish on Bachelor Juan Pablo’s season of The Bachelor, she also attempted finding love in two seasons of Bachelor in Paradise and one season of Bachelor Winter Games. This made her a household name in the Bachelor community, but after so many failed attempts at love, no one expected to see her as the Bachelorette.
Following Crawley’s crowning as Bachelorette, newer fans took to Twitter asking “Who even is she?” while those who have been watching since the beginning wondered why we were seeing her yet again. I wondered the same thing considering this will be her fifth season with the franchise — fifth time’s the charm I guess? With that being said, I’m looking forward to watching her season. Unpopular opinion, I know.
This past season of The Bachelor has been frustrating with its lack of maturity and lack of genuine love connections, so after a season of being disappointed by a bunch of barely-adults, I’m ready for some contestants with a little more life experience. I mean, seriously, how can an entire two hours be spent fighting over who popped Kelsey’s special bottle of bubbly –– get over yourself. I was not here for #champagnegate.
The cast of this past season, heavily concentrated around the 23 to 25 year-old and range, was more focused on drama and gaining Instagram followers than finding real love. Clare provides hope that this upcoming season will focus on real conversations and relationships. She won’t put up with the petty fights in the house because her only goal is to find a strong, grown-up man who can meet her very high expectations.
Instead of the overdone “never been kissed” 22-year-old or the 24-year-old “fashion blogger” mom, Clare, who is 38 and now the oldest bachelorette, freshens the Bachelorette roster with a unique maturity. Clare’s age is an asset to her future as Bachelorette because she’s had plenty of real world relationship experience to truly know her goals and needs from a man.
As devoted viewers have seen from other seasons, Clare doesn’t mess around. She was unafraid to call out Juan Pablo at the finale after he called their late-night ocean trist a “mistake” and won’t let anyone stand in her way of finding love. Tangled in a love triangle with two foreign Bachelor contestants at the 2018 winter games, Clare tackled the situation with poise, weighing the pros and cons of a future with each man.
Arguably the best part about Clare is that she isn’t anything like the girls from the most recent Bachelor season. While there were a few OK contestants, the majority of them seemed to be fame-hungry clout chasers set not on winning Peter’s heart, but millions of Instagram followers and future brand deals. The opposite can be said for Clare’s season because she won’t put up with contestants who aren’t there for love.
Bachelor producers made a smart decision naming Clare as the next Bachelorette. Clare may be an unconventional choice, but her approach as Bachelorette should help recover from the failure of this past season and hopefully revitalize the franchise moving forward.
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