Were Clare Crawley and Dale Moss talking before filming?

Clare Crawley and Dale Moss have all our attention–and we want to know more!

Rumor has it that Clare Crawley is in love, folks. This statement has caused quite the ruckus this as news regarding her departure from The Bachelorette Season 16 has made its rounds. We have yet to hear more on that front, but it was officially announced by ET’s Lauren Zima that Tayshia Adams is stepping in for the remainder of the season.

Now, we all know that the timeline of Bachelor Nation shows and falling in love is expedited, but 12 days? That has to be some type of record, right? Who was the guy that stole Clare Crawley’s heart in just a week and a half? According to reports, it’s former professional football player, Dale Moss.

But I’m not sure I’m completely convinced on this hyper-speed love story, and it seems like my doubts may be justified. According to Cosmopolitan, Clare and Dale may have started their relationship prior to filming. I mean, it would make a whole lot of sense.

Normally, something like this would be very unlikely to happen because the leads don’t meet the contestants until filming begins. But with the unusual circumstances of The Bachelorette Season 16 due to the production halt, Clare had a bit of an advantage when it came to knowing about her contestants. In fact, she even admitted to looking many of them up since she knew who was supposed to be on her season.

It would not be out of the realm of possibilities if Clare and Dale began speaking before heading to the resort. As a result, they could have formed a strong bond before Clare met the rest of the guys, and it’s likely that by the time she did, she wasn’t even into it.

Someone slid into someone’s DMs, and the rest is history. Talk about a franchise first!

Poor contestants, they flew out there, quarantined, and went through a whole ordeal for a journey they were never going to get to embark on. But plus side for them, Tayshia has stepped in, and I can’t imagine anyone is complaining about that.

All of the theories, rumors, and speculations that we’ve heard over the past week along with the official confirmation that Tayshia is now the Bachelorette, is starting to form a cohesive story. ABC hasn’t exactly come out and said anything officially about all of these changes.

But they did release this “sneak peek”.

You can’t see the face of the woman in the video, but you can tell it is Clare Crawley. However, I feel like the shrouded mystery of the entire thing is a nod to Bachelor Nation being kept in the dark about The Bachelerotte Season 16 and what it has in store for us.

If I’m being honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the upcoming season, but with everything that’s been going down this last week–I am counting down the days to see the madness unfold.

Clare just might have found her happily ever after! 

Do you think Clare Crawley and Dale Moss were talking before filming began? Share your comments below!