Probably the most interesting thing about the intro to this season is that it is unlike any other. ABC and The Bachelor producers had to take unique steps to ensure the entire cast and crew were safe. This season wasn’t even filmed in the usual Bachelor Mansion, it was filmed in La Quinta Resort & Club at the base of the Santa Rosa Mountains in the city of La Quinta.
When Clare was announced as the next Bachelorette, it was right before the pandemic really hit and the quarantine started, so poor Clare Crawley had this weird scenario of starting her journey just like every other Bachelorette, but then she had to put it on hold while the pandemic was in full swing. At some point during the quarantine, she was told that they would start filming within a bubble. Clare quarantined and was tested and was deemed safe.
They then brought the men into the resort and quarantined them and tested all of them, and all the people they showed tested safe. I can’t help but think that this location must be better for the men. They each have their own individual living spaces and once they were deemed safe, they have communal spaces as well. But they don’t have to share their rooms, their bathrooms or closet space or anything like that. Not too shabby if you ask me. The fun part was watching the men get their COVID-19 tests because it’s such an unusual test that you watch these buff guys complaining about how the swab felt going up their noses. It was funny and simultaneously endearing.
Once everyone was cleared, that was when things started to feel more like normal with the men introducing themselves to Clare Crawley. The first thing I’d like to mention here is that I was not a fan of the dress that Clare was wearing. She has an amazing figure and I feel like she could have worn a dress that could have complimented her figure better. Also, because the dress was backless, I kept catching a glimpse of what appeared to be her strapless bra, or it was part of the dress itself, either way it was distracting, and I was not a fan. Anyway, I’m not going to recap all of the men, just the men who stood out to me.
FRONT ROW: CHASEN, BRENDAN, JOE, JEREMY, CLARE CRAWLEY, YOSEF, GARIN, TYLER C., BLAKE MOYNES, ZACH J.
MIDDLE ROW: JAY, EAZY, ROBBY, DEMAR, RILEY, ED, DALE, IVAN, TYLER S., JORDAN C., PAGE
BACK ROW: BENNETT, KENNY, CHRIS, BRANDON, JASON, BEN, MIKE, AJ, ZAC C., BLAKE MONAR, JORDAN M.
Jason: Former Pro-Football Lineman: 31 – Got out of the limo pretending to be pregnant, which was cute because it was the same stunt that Clare pulled on Juan Pablo’s season.
Ivan: Aeronautical Engineer: 28 – I thought he was the best dressed of all the men. Fitted black suite, gray button-down shirt, thin black Swiss-dot tie with a tie-clip. Looked amazing.
Kenny: Boy Band Manager: 39 – He was wearing a t-shirt that had her dog’s faces on it! And I can’t help but feel that any dog lover would think that was too cute.
Tyler C: Lawyer: 27 – Rolled up in an old station wagon with his west Virginia accent. Plus he’s wearing black on black and I just swooned.
Bennett: Wealth Management Consultant: 36 – Rolled up in a Rolls Royce. He got out wearing a classic black suit, but also a long white scarf, so he gave off strong James Bond vibes.
AJ: Software Salesman: 28 – He’s wearing a burgundy fitted suit with a black shirt, and I’m a fan, but the poor boy was so nervous that he squeezed her hands really hard…
Eazy: Sports Marketing Agent: 29 – Jumped out of a big banner that said, “Your Future Husband,” wearing a salmon colored suit and a silver tie with a matching pocket square. Eazy is easily my favorite so far.
Jay: Fitness Director: 29 – Came out wearing a strait jacket claiming how the pandemic has driven him crazy. I don’t think the poor boy drank anything through the whole night.
Chasen: IT Account Executive: 31 – Walked up to her wearing a full knight’s armor. The poor guy was out of breath by the time he took it all off because he was wearing a full suit under a full metal armor set. That’s dedication.
Ed: Health Care Salesman: 36 – Rolled in with a huge bubble around him. Made the joke about how filming was taking place within a bubble.
Zach J: Cleaning Service Owner: 37 – This guy… he knelt down like he was going to propose, then he pulled out this ring box and opened it, and it was a fart in a box … that’s like something a high school student would do.
Dale: Former Pro-Football Receiver: 31 – It didn’t appear like they had any kind of significant interaction, and normally I wouldn’t have put him in this slot with these other guys with gimmicks, but Dale left such an impression on Clare Crawley that she couldn’t help but say “I definitely feel like I just met my husband” which is CRAZY, and has never happened before. Hard act to follow. They only showed two more after Dale, and they did not even kind of leave the same impression.
The rest of the night went as usual. One of my friends pointed out to me how much Clare cried throughout the episode, and once she said it, I couldn’t help but notice it. She got some more alone time with Dale and seems really into him. More importantly, her dog came out and ran around with all the guys, and her dog is a cutie patootie.
There was a little bit of drama that appeared between Yosef and Tyler C. Tyler pulled Yosef aside and told him that he knew that Yosef had been contacting girls in his town via Instagram. Yosef denied it, of course. Tyler told him that he knew it was a fact and that he wanted to handle this in a man-to-man way and not just go to Clare with it.
Personally, I think that’s honorable. He wanted to settle it between them, and if Yosef admitted to it but spoke about how things have changed, or how things were different now, I think things would have ended differently. But instead, Yosef went directly to Clare. He mentioned that Tyler C is trying to drag his name through the mud. Clare grabbed Tyler C and sat with them both. They spoke about what the drama was, with Clare being the mediator. I’m not sure how long this conversation took, but the other guys got pretty upset at the amount of time that they lost due to this exchange, so I imagine this took quite some time. Eventually, Clare got up and left because she had to talk with the other men in the house.
Unsurprisingly, Clare Crawley gave the first impression rose to Dale.
Men Who Received Roses:
🌹 Dale – First Impression Rose
🌹 Blake Moynes
🌹 Eazy
🌹 Ben
🌹 Riley
🌹 Zach J.
🌹 Tyler S.
🌹 Joe
🌹 Chasen
🌹 Demar
🌹 Jason
🌹 Jordan C.
🌹 Blake Monar
🌹 Kenny
🌹 Brendan
🌹 Garin
🌹 Ed
🌹 Bennett
🌹 Zac C.
🌹 Jay
🌹 Brandon
🌹 Ivan
🌹 Yosef
Men who got sent home:
🥀 Tyler C
🥀 Page
🥀 AJ
🥀 Chris
🥀 Jeremy
🥀 Jordan M.
🥀 Mike
🥀 Robby
Then, as per usual, there was a review of the upcoming season itself. It looks like there’s going to be a lot of drama surrounding Dale, but only the upcoming weeks will tell! Stay tuned!
