‘The Bachelorette’: What Chris Harrison Actually Thought About Clare Crawley’s Decision
Clare Crawley is officially engaged to Dale Moss, and Tayshia Adams is the new lead on The Bachelorette. While these spoilers were known for months, fans saw all the drama unfold on Nov. 5 when a new episode of the show aired. The host of The Bachelorette, Chris Harrison, is now revealing what he thinks of Crawley’s decision to get engaged so quickly.
[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for Season 16 Episode 4 of The Bachelorette.]
Chris Harrison’s famous line
Leading up to Season 16 of The Bachelorette, fans knew that Harrison would tell Crawley, “Congratulations, you’ve just blown up The Bachelorette” because of teasers for the show. On Nov. 5, fans saw this interaction occur when Harrison paid a visit to Crawley on set.
“You dread those [moments]. But at the same time, you live for them as a producer and as a host,” he told Refinery29 before the season premiere. “This is the great thing: I’ve done this show so long that I have the leeway to have those moments with Clare or with whomever the Bachelorette is. To just speak our truth; to just go with it and lean into it. And not try and hide it — not try and cover it up.”
Harrison told Crawley that the leads noticed her growing relationship with Moss, and this was causing tension among them. When Crawley admitted that what she wanted was to spend more time with Moss over the other contestants, Harrison delivered the famous line.
“It’s like, ‘Hey, if you’ve blown up the show, you’ve blown up the show. Here we go! Let’s see where we go from here!'” Harrison told Refinery29. “That’s the exciting thing about this show now. We lean into it. And you get to see it as a fan of the show, warts and all.”
How production made the proposal happen on ‘The Bachelorette
On Nov. 6, Harrison appeared on The Ben and Ashley I. Almost Famous podcast and discussed how his conversations with Crawley went down.
“Clearly her head was not there anymore,” Harrison said. “And clearly she was not even remotely giving anyone else a chance, which is not bad.”
After realizing Crawley’s feelings, production was able to fast track the show for the couple.
“In unprecedented fashion, we stopped the show and gave her a bizarre, kinda overnight fantasy suite in the middle of the show,” he said. “We had to move mountains… then there was an engagement. We’re still going to keep up with them as the show moves along.”
Chris Harrison is not mad at Clare Crawley
Throughout the season, rumors have swirled that production of the show and Crawley clashed throughout filming because of her feelings for Moss. On The Ben and Ashley I. Almost Famous podcast Harrison refuted those rumors.
“Again, I’m not mad at Clare,” he said. “No one is mad at Clare, at least on the show side, the producers. We embraced it. And I sat down with her and said, ‘Clare, my only issue is this isn’t fair anymore. Let’s just figure out what’s going on with you and Dale. Let’s stop the show.'”
He continued, “I just want to clear it up, at no point, was I disappointed in Clare. No point where any of us were disappointed. In fact, it was the contrary. We love you, we’re here for you.”
