Ready for love! On July 15, ABC posted photos on Facebook of 42 contestants that might appear on season 16 of The Bachelorette. Of the 42, 25 of them were new names and 17 of the men were from the original cast announcement in March. Then, on Tuesday, September 29, the network released an updated list of names — 31 in total — with 12 men scratched from the cast and one new addition.
Clare Crawley‘s season was originally set to film in March and debut in May. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the season was put on pause and filming began in mid-July.
When the original cast was announced, many fans critiqued the younger group, as the hairstylist is 39. The new group of suitors’ ages range from 26 to 40.
The original cast members who are no longer on the season include Aaron Goodwin, Anthony Witchek, Austin Bouzigard, Bennett Murphy, Bret Engemann, Cameron Duffy, James Clarke, Jake Mills, Matt Grosso, Miles Gully, Nick Eccher, Grant Lewis, Greg Grippo, JP Caruso and, of course, Matt James. ABC announced in June that James, 28, will be the season 25 Bachelor. Some of those men, as well as the dozen who were cut in the list revealed on Tuesday, may return when Taysha Adams takes over from Crawley as the Bachelorette a few episodes in. (As Us Weekly previously reported, Crawley opted to leave the season early after for falling for one of the contestants.)
This season of The Bachelorette will look different as it was not filmed at the Bachelor mansion. Instead, due to the pandemic, it was shot 164 miles away at the lavish La Quinta Resort & Club in La Quinta, California.
Crawley opened up in June about the delay in filming, which gave her the chance to look up the contestants.
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“Obviously [I did]. What woman wouldn’t, are you kidding me?” she said on the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast. “I will say this. At first, I really didn’t. I really did not and it was because — I don’t know. I just kind of felt like I want to get to know them and regardless, I know how my Instagram is. It’s a piece of my life. … You have to see and feel it in person and so regardless of what their life is and what it looks like on their Instagram, it’s nice to actually see them in person and I am huge on pheromones, so that’s like the end for me.”
The Bachelorette will premiere on ABC this fall, airing on Tuesdays. Scroll through the gallery below to take a look at the men who are competing for Crawley’s heart.
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