‘The Bachelorette’: The Real Reason Why Tayshia Adams’ Finale Wasn’t as Messy As the Rest of the Season
It was a rollercoaster season of The Bachelorette, but the season finale was actually very tame compared to the rest of the season. A midseason replacement may have thrown things out of whack, but for some time now, viewers seemed like they knew the direction that Tayshia Adams was going to head in, and she did exactly just that.
[Spoiler alert for The Bachelorette season finale below.]
Zac Clark ended up being the last man standing and he and Adams are now together to live happier ever after. Given how smooth the finale seemed to go, fans were wondering how this could be. An ABC executive seemed to insinuate in a post-season interview that this was the result of organic storytelling.
Tayshia Adams’ unconventional season as ‘The Bachelorette’ concluded on Tuesday
Adams became first lead of The Bachelorette to join when the season had already. started. Her predecessor, Clare Crawley, chose a suitor after just a few weeks. As Crawley left the show, a lot of the remaining contestants became nervous about what the rest of the season could hold.
When Crawley was about leave, host. Chris Harrison noted how big this decision would be for. the franchise, telling her, “The path we’re on right now, it doesn’t end well … for anybody,” Crawley said “waited so long for this,” but still ended up ending her journey very early when she decided to choose Dale Moss. Harrison notably told Crawley, “You’ve just blown up The Bachelorette.”
But as they say, “the show must go on,” and it sure did. Adams came in, continued the rest of the season, and she is now engaged to Clark.
Secrets about the finale and season revealed
In a long-ranging interview with Variety, Rob Mills, ABC Entertainment’s senior vice president of alternative series, specials & late-night programming, talked at length about Adams’ season and how it all panned out.
Hill was asked about how the finale was pretty normal, unlike the messiness of the season and the messiness that we’ve seen in years prior for finales of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.
“You can’t force it, but you do need that because otherwise, it looks like the show is just about a train wreck.,” he said.” For us, we do take pride in the fact that there have been marriages and babies that have come from this.”
Even now, both of the Bachelorettes are happy. Crawley is still with Moss and Adams is still with Clark, even though filming wrapped for the season a good while ago. But even Mills notes that the couples’ happiness may be owed in part to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“A lot of it was timing,” he explained. “You can certainly say that the pandemic changed everything. For Clare, she spent all this time thinking about these guys and then she met Dale and knew immediately. There was a lot of time for reflection through quarantining. And for the guys, you had to really want to be there — the fact that we had announced Matt James already meant you’re not there to be “The Bachelor,” or to get 15 stamps on your passport [with travel restrictions]. You were there to fall in love.”
The Bachelor, led by Matt James as the franchise’s first Black male lead, premieres on Jan. 4, 2021.
