Picking Clare Crawley As ‘The Bachelorette’ Is Not The Only Unexpected Casting Decisions From The Franchise

The decision to choose Clare Crawley as the upcoming Bachelorette may be unexpected, but it’s not the first curveball the franchise has thrown in terms of their lead casting choices. A lot of thought goes into this role, and throughout the years, producers have opted to make some strange and, at times, unpopular choices in terms of who they chose as the lead, Us Weekly reported.

The main reason Crawley being cast as the lead was unexpected is because she is not a fresh face. Typically the lead is chosen from among the cast of the most recent episode of The Bachelor. That way fans are invested in the individual and their journey to find love.

Crawley’s debut on The Bachelor was way back in 2013 during Juan Pablo Galavis’ season. The second reason no one expected Crawley was due to her age. She is currently 38 years old and will turn 39 during filming. The woman chosen as The Bachelorette is typically in her mid- to late-20s.

The last time producers shocked fans with a casting decision was when they cast Arie Luyendyk Jr. as The Bachelor. He was also a veteran to the franchise, not having appeared in it for years. His debut into the reality television world was on Emily Maynard’s season of The Bachelorette in 2012.

His season itself was filled with plenty of curveballs as well, the most notable being when he proposed to Becca Kufrin and then later called things off to be with runner-up Lauren Burnham.

Then there was the time that producers could not pick one woman to be The Bachelorette and thus opted for two with Britt Nilsson and Kaitlyn Bristowe. The situation was painfully awkward as the men from the season were then instructed to vote for which woman they most wanted to see continue as the lead. Ultimately Nilsson was sent home.

The reactions to the announcement of Crawley being cast for the upcoming season have been mixed. Some fans are excited to see an older and more mature woman take on the role after how much drama there was this season. Other fans are so disappointed in this casting decision that they are threatening to boycott this season entirely, as The Inquisitr previously reported.

“Crazy Claire?? No thanks. I’ll be sitting out for the first time since season 1,” one fan wrote.

“Me too for the first time ever. This girl has had so many chances. Why her?” questioned another fan.