‘Bachelorette’ Producer Reveals Exact Moment They Realized Clare Crawley Needed to Be Replaced

The Bachelorette is giving a peek behind the curtain. Clare Crawley‘s time on the ABC dating show came to an early end after the leading lady fell head over heels for suitor Dale Moss at first sight, with Tayshia Adams making her official debut as Crawley’s replacement at the very end of Tuesday’s episode. The switch had been rumored for months, but ABC Entertainment’s Rob Mills revealed the next day on former Bachelor Nick Viall’s podcast, The Viall Files, there was a lot of scrambling behind the scenes to deal with the “unpredictable” start to the season.

Mills said producers realized Crawley’s season would need to be revamped in some way when she chose to give herself the rose at the end of a group date that didn’t include Moss. “At the time, it was sort of controversial,” he said. “This was the time when we started thinking, ‘Oh my God, like we’ve really got to start thinking about this.’ When she didn’t give out that rose and just gave it to herself.” Viall said that he “saw that coming,” based on how focused Crawley had been on Moss throughout the season, to which Mills replied, “That was it. That was it, that was when we started making the call.”

It wasn’t just Crawley’s focus on Moss that made things difficult, it was that the other contestants were “starting to be in revolt” due to the preferential treatment the woman they were dating was giving Moss. After a group date that challenged the men to roast each other, Crawley was angry that so many had made jokes about her frontrunner, spouting off her frustrations to a producer in a rare glimpse behind the scenes. “Those shots with producers that we don’t really like to show, breaking the fourth wall … we had to show that scene, [so] you could see what’s going through Clare’s head,” Mills explained.

While Mills and Viall agreed that a Bachelor or Bachelorette lead falling for one of their suitors early on is common, they also agreed Crawley’s case was a bit more extreme than drama they’ve had in the past. “It was always about, ‘They’re going to walk off.’ You know as the lead, you have moments where you’re like, ‘I’m done, I’m out,’” Mills said. “It was sort of never, ‘Oh my God, what if they’ve met this person and we’ve got to shut this whole thing down?’”

Mills also addressed rumors that Crawley and Moss had communicated before filming together. “She’s been asked, ‘Did you guys speak before this?’ and she swears on her dad’s grave that they didn’t,” he said. “She had never seen this guy.” While Adams will take over the role of Bachelorette for the majority of the season, fans will get to see a little bit more of Crawley and Moss’ relationship moving forward. “Tayshia will be part of the season starting next week,” Mills said. “This is where, as Chris Harrison says, ‘The Bachelorette will blow up.’” The Bachelorette next airs Thursday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.