In case you missed the huge, huge news: Claire Crawley has reportedly left The Bachelorette (opens in new tab) after a few weeks of filming. She has been replaced by fan favorite Taysia Adams, a first for the already dramatic show. The rumor originated on Reddit this weekend and was confirmed yesterday by E! and Entertainment Tonight.

Which begs the next question: wait, what exactly is this going to be? Will the season "restart" or will Crowley's dropouts remain eliminated? Will the men who were trying to woo Crowley be amenable to changing the Bachelorette? (Remember that awful season when the single men voted on which Bachelorette they wanted? Let's hope these single men behave better than that one.) Remember, the final number of Crawley performers (open in new tab) was 42, which included more than the usual number of contestants so that there would be alternates if they tested positive for the coronavirus. Given the uniqueness of this season due to the pandemic, it seems unlikely that any true outsiders will join the cast at this time. However, here is what we know so far.

It was when Crawley told producers that she "didn't want to do the show anymore" (reportedly) that she filmed a few weeks of her season. Before filming began, the entire cast and crew had come to the hotel to be quarantined and tested for coronavirus, but it is not known exactly whether the men who dropped out would leave immediately (they usually do) or remain at the hotel.

So if Crawley eliminated some contestants, but they had to remain at the hotel, would they not be eliminated so that Adams could start with more men for her season? If they were still left out, would the producers dip into the pool of alternates, leaving them out? Or will Adams start with half of Crowley's 15, a source who spoke to Entertainment Weekly (opens in new tab) said, "Filming was not canceled, but Teysha was restarted as the Bachelorette."

Last week, unaware of the bombshell that would follow, Us Weekly (opens in new tab) published a story about bachelors who were cast on the show but ultimately did not make it to the first night and were asked if they wanted to return to the show." Last weekend, producers reached out to backup Bachelorette contestants who were vetted for Claire's season but ultimately were not cast due to filming at La Quinta (resort): ...... When the producers reached out again out of the blue, it was very obvious that something had happened with the production"

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As far as we know, it did not appear that any of these contestants decided to come back. And it seems too late to start over with a new contestant. So, at least for now, it may be a good idea to work with the existing bachelors. Undecided.