‘The Bachelorette’ Producers Met With Peter Weber Season Villain Victoria F. for the Lead Role
Clare Crawley was announced as the bachelorette on March 2, just before Peter Weber’s Bachelor finale. The bachelorette is often chosen from the current pool of contestants. So when Harrison declared that Crawley would be in the lead role, it seemed a little out of left field to many fans.
As it turns out, producers had been considering a couple of women from Weber’s season after all, including none other than season villain Victoria F.
Why ‘The Bachelorette’ producers decided on Clare Crawley
Crawley was actually the last person producers spoke to before they made their final decision.
“There was such a refreshing candor about her,” Rob Mills, ABC Entertainment’s senior vice president of alternative series, told Variety on Oct. 13. “And she was really emotional talking about her past and what she had learned about herself during her time with Juan Pablo [Galavis].”
In addition to Crawley’s “refreshing candor,” the franchise producers knew instantly that the Sacramento hair dresser would be going on the show “for the right reasons.”
“Clare is loved by viewers of The Bachelor, but there were also plenty of viewers who didn’t know her and they do like [that] she’s a bit older,” said Mills. “At least, that’s what I saw on Twitter. One of the criticisms of Peter’s season is that some of the girls seemed awfully young and the audience was questioning if they were ready to settle down. No one can argue with the fact that Clare is ready.”
Victoria F. was also considered for ‘The Bachelorette’
Before The Bachelorette casting team settled on Crawley, they considered a few other women, one being Victoria Fuller from Weber’s season.
“From Peter’s season, we met with Victoria P. and Victoria F. And then we met with Tia [Booth] who is fantastic, and then we met with Tayshia [Adams],” he said.
Both Victorias were involved in quite a bit of drama throughout Weber’s season, but Fuller most of all. As the season aired, she was accused of sleeping with her friends’ husbands, modeling for a White Lives Matter clothing brand, and bullying people in school. She was never a fan favorite. But, then again, neither was Hannah Brown.
Ultimately, Mills felt the women from Weber’s season were too young to be the bachelorette. But they have potential for the lead role down the road, and definitely in Paradise.
“I have to be honest, I think that we felt that Peter’s girls were maybe a little bit too young,” he said. “They were great on their season of the show, and certainly, we want to keep them around for Bachelor In Paradise or to potentially be the bachelorette in future seasons.”
