Clare Crawley Of ‘The Bachelorette’ Reportedly Didn’t Know Matt James Would Be The Next Bachelor

Clare Crawley apparently wasn’t given any heads up that Matt James would be named The Bachelor. According to a source that spoke with Us Weekly, she was left out of the loop, even though James was originally supposed to be a part of the cast of her season of The Bachelorette.

James was announced as The Bachelor on the Friday morning episode of Good Morning America, and the source said that final casting decisions are still being made.

“Clare didn’t know about Matt becoming The Bachelor until the GMA announcement. Decisions are still being made when it comes to her cast,” the source explained.

The announcement that James would be The Bachelor was the first time in the history of both shows that the series’ titular star was confirmed before The Bachelorette had aired. Crawley’s season of The Bachelorette was supposed to air last month but had to be postponed because of the coronavirus.

James likely won’t be a part of Crawley’s cast when her season airs, and will instead anchor his own season of The Bachelor when that show returns.

The cast for Crawley’s season was originally announced on March 11, but Us reports that there has been discussion around recasting some of the men for several reasons. One has to do with scheduling, as not all of them may be available when the show actually goes into production. The cast may also change because, unlike in most seasons, each of the men has already had a chance to speak with Crawley themselves.

In an interview with Variety, ABC executive Rob Mills pointed out that no one on Crawley’s season will have a chance at becoming The Bachelor.

“I think where this is really great for Clare is that every guy who will be on her season will know there is no chance of becoming The Bachelor, so they should really all be there only for Clare,” he explained.

In a statement to the magazine, ABC entertainment president Karey Burke said that the network has been getting to know James since he was approached to join the cast of The Bachelorette in February. Because filming couldn’t move forward as planned, they had more time to get to know him, and decided he would be perfect for the role of The Bachelor.

“We feel so privileged to have Matt as our first black Bachelor and we cannot wait to embark on this journey with him,” the statement read.