It was love at first sight for Clare Crawley and Dale Moss on The Bachelorette season 16, but some fans are wondering if they had met before the show. ABC and the production team behind this show had to take unprecedented precautions in order to move forward with season 16 of The Bachelorette. The season was filmed while the COVID-19 pandemic was already in full effect in 2020. Because this is a dating competition, physical proximity and touching between contestants are to be expected. For this season to happen, the producers quarantined each of the contestants individually and tested them regularly.
During The Bachelorette season 16 premiere, Clare Crawley met 31 men of all ages, ethnicities, occupations, and backgrounds. But between 26-year-old spin cycling instructor Demar Jackson and 40-year-old banker Jeremy Higgins, Clare clearly saw something special in 31-year-old former professional football wide receiver Dale Moss. With that said, some viewers found it somewhat strange to hear Clare say "I knew it!" when Dale stepped out of his limo and walked toward her. After all, this sounded like Clare was familiar with Dale and had a sneaky suspicion that she would see him on the show.
Clare and Dale did not meet prior to The Bachelorette, but she did know a thing or two about him before the show. The network was scheduled to start filming The Bachelorette season 16 back in March 2020, but production had to be delayed due to the spread of COVID-19. For that reason, Clare Crawley had an unusually long waiting period to prepare for the show and find out which guys were being considered to be on the season. During an interview with ET, Clare admitted that she knew a few of her suitors' names and did look them up on social media. She then said the following about Dale Moss: "Dale, in a lot of his [Instagram] Stories, he would talk about his mom and he'd talk about his family. (...) I just felt like there would be that good connection with him. But you ultimately don't know if it's a romantic connection, because you're just seeing him through social media."
It's pretty clear that Clare and Dale didn't know each other prior to The Bachelorette season 16, but it's not like she knew nothing about him before the show, either. When she saw him step out of the car and walk toward her during the season premiere episode, Clare knew that this was the family-loving Dale that she had found on Instagram a few months before. It is unfair to say that Dale had an unbeatable competitive advantage on the show simply because Clare peeked at his Instagram profile at some point in the past, but it is also noteworthy that she did have a little bit of information about him before the season started.
ABC has been teasing that a big twist is coming up on The Bachelorette, and it allegedly involves Clare falling too deep in love with Dale on the show. For now, the fans can keep tuning in to find out what happens next for this couple in the making.
The Bachelorette season 16 airs Tuesdays at 8 pm ET/PT on ABC.
Sources: ET