Our heads are spinning over reports that Clare Crawley quit The Bachelorette and was replaced by Tayshia Adams.
But amidst these reports, ABC just put out a promo for the new season ... very clearly starring Clare. What?!
At first, we were perfectly willing to write off the claims that Clare had quit filming after 12 days as a prank.
Don't get us wrong, Dale Moss is a hot guy and a total catch.
But even if she did fall head over heels, would she really have ghosted on her contract like that?
Over the past several days, however, it has become increasingly clear that these reports may be the real deal.
Even Reality Steve, often suspicious of news that breaks from random tabloids before making it to his ears, is onboard.
Instead of any official denials that Clare quit and got engaged and was replaced by Tayshia Adams, we got ... relative radio silence.
Now, amidst the swirling rumors about production on this already unusual season, ABC just dropped a promo.
The video, included with this post, is almost painfully brief.
And despite reports of her replacement just 12 days into filming, it still features Clare.
The promo only features Clare.
There is, we will admit, a strongly ominous and mysterious vibe to the promo video.
Maybe the teaser was always intended to be like this. Maybe.
But our guess? They made it this way to play off of current reports about Clare.
It doesn't sound like the network is ready to give us details about how Tayshia's picking up of the reins is going to be or how it will all work.
Otherwise, we'd imagine some sort of "passing the baton" motif worked into the promo. That's the obvious move, right?
We can imagine original plans for the promo, like Clare kissing an unseen man through a sheet of glass, or while wearing hazmat gear.
Either that or playing up the "cougar" angle since she is 39, but honestly, that might have reaked of ageism.
Clare is the same age as Arie Luyendyk Jr., who looks a solid decade older than she does, but production never played up that he looked like his fiance's dad.
If these widespread and thus far not-yet-debunked reports are true, Clare fell head over heels for hot athlete Dale Moss.
Whether they were secretly chatting before the season or she was hypnotized the moment that she laid eyes on the way his tiddies fill out a shirt remains unclear.
But either way, she knew that he was the one that she wanted ... and apparently, everybody else can take a hike.
With Tayshia Adams stepping in to replace her, Clare's loss is Tayshia's gain ... sort of.
Tayshia is reportedly contending with Clare's seconds, which means that all of the contestants are men chosen for Clare, not Tayshia.
Additionally, Tayshia is not expected to get a chance to sort through any of the men from Clare's "discard pile," so to speak. Not ideal for her.
But hey, maybe this promo is intended to tell us that the reports are false ... without coming out and saying so.
After all, ABC has to be loving all of this attention.
At this point, though, we're very willing to believe that at least the bulk of what's being said is legit. We hope that Tayshia can have a worthy season anyway.
