At this point, it's not even a rumor any longer:
Clare Crawley is out as the Bachelorette and Tayshia Adams is in.
Well. Sort of.
As numerous sources have now confirmed, Crawley -- who was a controversial selection as the next anchor of this franchise when she was selected this past spring -- only lasted 12 days as The Bachelorette.
She flew out to California... was isolated in a huge resort along with dozens of potential husbands... and reportedly fell for Dale Moss within two weeks.
Crawley was so sure Moss was the Man of Her Dreams that she refused to shoot after making up her mind.
Clare even "refused to come out of her room" at one point during shooting in quarantine, an insider previously told Life & Style.
Wild, right?!?
With producers facing an unforeseen dilemma, they allegedly acted quickly and invited Tayshia Adams to take Crawley's place -- and she said yes!
As for how the heck Clare and Dale could be so sure about each other after such a short period of time hanging out?
"One of her potential guys found a way to get in touch with her and they began talking," a source tells People Magazine.
"By the time filming officially began, they were basically already in love. No one else stood a chance.
"It just became so obvious from her subsequent few dates that her heart wasn’t in it and she just wasn’t feeling it.
"Then she said she wanted out."
For whatever reasons, Adams was already waiting as a backup.
"Tayshia was game and ready to go," the source says of Colton Underwood's runner-up.
"What remains to be seen is if more men will be brought in now to give Tayshia a full roster of suitors."
What also remains to be seen, in the eyes of a curious and confused Bachelor Nation?
How this is all gonna work!
According to E! News, there will basically be TWO Bachelorettes this season.
"The producers have told [Adams] that the season will still lead with Clare and her short-lived journey, and will show Clare falling in love with one of her suitors," this outlets explains.
"Clare will then conclude her journey and announce that Tayshia is the lead."
Again: Wild, right?!?
Unlike past season -- where contestants travel around the globe on a journey to find true love -- Clare and her contestants were to remain isolated at a Palm Springs resort for the duration of filming.
More men than ever before (42!) were chosen as suitors.... in case some were diagnosed with COVID-19.
Crawley sounded very excited for her role to begin, appearing on Good Morning America a couple months ago and expressing enthusiasm for finding her forever mate.
But that's already happened, apparrently.
Need more proof?
On Sunday, August 2, Crawley appeared to "like" and quickly "unlike" a fan's post on Twitter about Tayshia becoming the Bachelorette.
For those unaware, Bachelorette leads and suitors are NOT allowed to have their phones while shooting.
So how would she have been able to do this unless she was back home and armed once again with the Internet?
The Bachelorette is set to air this fall on ABC.
As you might expect, ABC sources are already touting this as "really the most dramatic season ever."
"There's more to the story than just [Clare] falling for someone and not wanting to see what else could happen with other men," someone in the know tells People.
Darn it. They totally got us again. We're in.
