Can Vulture steal you for a sec? After months of spoilers, delays, and gossip, Clare Crawley’s pandemic season of The Bachelorette finally premiered on Tuesday, with dozens of sanitized roses and one shiny ballgown that looked like a handbag we once bought at Limited Too. Or should we say Clare Crawley and Tayshia Adams’s season? As has been heavily speculated for quite some time, the premiere was loaded with hints and winks about an impending leading lady switch: Crawley apparently decides to depart The Bachelorette early due to falling in love with contestant Dale Moss, with Adams coming in as her pinch hitter. And after witnessing the electric first meeting between Crawley and Moss, which resulted in Moss getting the “first impression rose,” we can hardly blame her. (We’re not exaggerating. She literally says “it feels like I just met my husband.”) Read on for all of these clues, which come from the premiere and the postscript trailer.
“Oh man, I knew it. It feels like I just met my husband. Oh my god. I’m shaking. Every other guy I felt confident with but with Dale, everything else went dark around me. I don’t even know what I just said. Did I sound okay? Did I say anything at all? I felt everything that I haven’t felt ever.” —Clare
“I felt it. I just know. I’m 39. Like, you know these things. I know what I want. I know when I feel that feeling. Obviously, I’d like to meet everybody, but man. As I’m meeting these guys, I’m trying so hard to be present because the fact that these guys are here doing this for me has meant a lot to me.” —Clare
“I have feelings for Dale. We have a connection. Guess what, it’s because I like him. It’s happening.” —Clare
“Every time I wake up, I think about you. And when I go to bed at night, I think about you. —Clare to Dale
“I know what I’m looking for and I know what I want, and I’ve found it.” —Clare
“I haven’t felt these emotions in years.” —Dale to Clare
“In the 18 years I’ve been doing this show, we’ve never dealt with anything like this.” —Chris
“The path that we’re on now doesn’t end well for anybody. You’ve blown up The Bachelorette.” —Chris
“Clare’s gone. I haven’t fully comprehended what’s going on.” —Contestant whose name we haven’t bothered learning yet
“Do we get a new Bachelorette in here?” —Another contestant whose name we haven’t bothered learning yet
