With less than a week until the premiere of the newest season of The Bachelorette, ABC has been releasing teaser after teaser. None of them mention the switch that is set to happen part-way through the season, when Tayshia Adams will replace Clare Crawley as the Bachelorette. Until now.
The long waiting period between the end of Peter Weber's season in March and the upcoming premiere is unusual for the franchise. In a normal year, we would've already seen a season of The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise by now. But this is in no way a normal year. The extended break between Clare's announcement as Bachelorette back in March, and the premiere of the season next Tuesday, October 13th, has led to spoilers and speculation. The biggest spoiler of all is that Clare Crawley left the show after only a few weeks to be with contestant Dale Moss, and no one can blame her. Tayshia Adams was then brought in the finish the season as the Bachelorette. This news was confirmed by people close to the show, including Chris Harrison's longtime girlfriend Lauren Zima, aka an ABC-approved source.
With people connected to the show outwardly congratulating Tayshia, it's confused fans that the show itself has not addressed the change. Finally, with the newest trailer, they're making their first acknowledgment of the switch. In the teaser below, one of the men asks "Can we get a new Bachelorette in here?" The trailer also quotes various Twitter users, with one of the quotes asking, "What's going on with #TheBachelorette?" It ends with a visual we've seen in past trailers, that of a crying Clare in a messy bun talking to Chris Harrison. This time we get an additional line from Chris, "If we continue down this path, it doesn't end well." One can only assume that he's referring to the reports that Clare refused to go on other dates after falling for Dale Moss almost immediately--and again, we ain't blaming her.
The question of "Can we get a new Bachelorette in here" is the closest reference so far to the Tayshia Adams switch, but fans are wondering why the producers are beating around the bush with the reveal of the change. Odds are they want to shock fans who are unspoiled, but it does deprive Tayshia of the usual publicity and promotion that every Bachelorette is accustomed to. Mainly, fans are wondering why the producers would let the news get out if they weren't planning on revealing it officially until the show airs.
Unspoiled fans likely won't catch the reference, but for most of Bachelor Nation, the new trailer is a secretive wink that they know we know. This teaser could possibly be the last one before the show begins, and if so, the producers' tactics of keeping things mum could pay off, as viewers are holding their breath to catch the actual changing of the crown when Tayshia becomes America's most eligible Bachelorette.
The Bachelorette is set to premiere on Tuesday, October 13, as long as the NBA Finals don't go to game 7.